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TWENTY- SECOND ANNUAL REPORT

SECRETARY

JUMSttrintsetts Ijoard of Ijtiatlfttte,

WITH AN APPENDIX

CONTAINING

REPORTS OF DELEGATES APPOINTED TO VISIT TEE
COUNTY EXHIBITIONS,

RETURNS OF THE FINANCES OF THE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES,

1 S 7 4 .

BOSTON:

WRIGHT & POTTER, STATE PRINTERS,
79 Milk Street (corner of Federal).

1875.

STATE BOARD OF AGEICULTUEE-1875.

MEMBERS EX OFFICIIS.

His Excellency WILLIAM GASTON.

His Honor HORATIO G. KNIGHT.

Hon. OLIVER WARNER, Secretary of the Commonwealth.

WILLIAM S. CLARK, Pres Mass. Agricultural College. %

CHARLES A. GOESSMANN, State Agricultural Chemist.

APPOINTED BY THE GOVERNOR AND COUNCIL.

Term Expires.

PAUL A. CIIADBOURNE, of Williamstown, .... 1876

MARSHALL P. WILDER, of Boston, 1877

LEVERETT SALTONSTALL, of Newton 1878

Hampden,

CHOSEN BY

Massachusetts,
Essex, .
Middlesex,
Middlesex North,
Middlesex South,
Worcester,
Worcester West,
Worcester North,
Worcester North- West,
Worcester South, .
Worcester South-East,
Hampshire, Franklin S$
Hampshire, .
Highland,
Hampden,
Hampden East,
Union, .
Franklin,
Deerjield Valley,
Berkshire,
Hoosac Valley,
Housatonic, .
Norfolk,
Hinyhaln,
Bristol, .
Bristol Central,
Plymouth,
Marsltftehl, .
Barnstable, .
Nantucket, .
Martha's Vineyard,

THE COUNTY SOCIETIES.

CHARLES S. SARGENT, of Brookline, . 1877

GEORGE B. LORING, of Salem, . . .1878

JOHN B. MOORE, of Concord, . . .1876

JONATHAN LADD, of Lowell, . . .1877
ELIJAH PERRY, of Natick, .... 1878

0. B. HAD WEN, of Worcester, . . .1878

ADDISON H. HOLLAND, of Barre, . . 1878

STEPHEN SHEPLEY, of Fitchburg, . . 1878
COURTLON SANDERSON, of Phillipston, 1877

DANIEL DWIGHT, of Dudley, ' . . . 1877

WILLIAM KNO WLTON, of Upton, . . 1876

ELNATHAN GRAVES, of Williamsburg, . 1876

LEVI P. WARNER, of Sunderland, . .1877

METCALF J. SMITH, of Middlefield, . . 1878

HORACE M. SESSIONS, of Wilbraham, . 1876

HORACE P. WAKEFIELD, of Monson, . 1876

FRANKLIN C. KNOX, of Blandford, . . 1877

WHITNEY L. WARNER, of Sunderland, . 1877

E. C. HAWKS, of Ckarlemont, . . . 1878

ENSIGN H. KELLOGG, of Pittsfield, . . 1876

JOHN M. COLE, of Williamstown, . . 1876
HENRY S. GOOD ALE, of Mt. Washington, 1876

ELIPHALET STONE, of Dedham, . .1877

ALBERT FEARING, of Hingham, . . 1876

EDMUND H. BENNETT, of Taunton, .-1878

JOHN A. HAWES, of Fairhaven, . .1876

CHARLES G. DAVIS, of Plymouth, . . 1878

GEORGE M. BAKER, of Marshfield, . . 1876

S. B. PHINNEY, of Barnstable, . . .1877

ANDREW M. MYRICK, of Nantucket, . 1876

HEBRON VINCENT, of Edgartown, . . 1877

CHARLES L. FLINT, Secretary.

TWENTY-SECOND
ANNUAL EEPOET OF THE SECEETAET

OF THE

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

To the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of

Massachusetts.

While a somewhat general depression of the manufacturing
and commercial interests has prevailed throughout the State,
during the past year, the farming community, as a whole,
has been more than usually prosperous. Farming, though
dependent greatly upon the character and the fluctuations of
the seasons, is comparatively independent of the exigencies
of trade, and calculated to sustain a spirit of courage and
hopefulness from the fact that it lies at the very foundation
of all other industries, and is the groundwork of all public
prosperity.

The spring, though cold and late, was protracted into the
summer, while the distribution of moisture through frequent
and copious rains, was highly favorable to the growth of
grass and most other cultivated crops. The greenness and
luxuriance of the early foliage was continued late into the
summer to such an extent as to be the subject of general
remark. The opening of the growing season was, therefore,
exceptionally favorable, no drought occurring to check the
progress of vegetation till late in the fall, when springs and

6 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

wells became unusually low, causing great and wide-spread
inconvenience and anxiety for the approaching winter.

The societies throughout the State have, with few excep-
tions, been active and successful in their efforts to promote
the cause of agriculture, and the public exhibitions have
generally been well attended.

A disease, commonly called the Texas cattle fever, has
created some excitement in certain localities in the Common-
wealth, but the losses arising from it have not proved very
serious. The details with regard to it will be found in the
Report of the Commissioners on the Diseases of Cattle, on a
subsequent page.

PUBLIC MEETING OF THE BOAKD,

At WESTFIELD.

The country meeting of the State Board of Agriculture was
held at the Music Hall in Westfield, on the first, second and
third days of December, 1874, and was very largely attended
by the members of the Board, and by farmers and others
interested in the progress of agriculture, from the different
parts of the State. The meeting was called to order on
Tuesday, the first of December, at two o'clock, by Mr.
Franklin C. Knox of Blandford, chairman of the com-
mittee of arrangements, who suggested the name of Hon.
Marshall P. Wilder as chairman for the day, and he was
accordingly elected.

OPENING REMARKS OF HON. MARSHALL P. WILDER.

I am very unexpectedly called upon to occupy this position,
gentlemen. I beg you to understand that I do not accept it,
great as the privilege and honor are, with any idea that I«
possess any superiority of ability, or superiority of age.
But, gentlemen, to be serious, I am very happy to perform
any service which I am able to discharge, and I congratulate
you most sincerely on the large and full attendance of the
members of the Board, and especially on the presence of so
many distinguished leaders in the great cause of agriculture,
who have come up to cooperate with us, and I doubt not that

PUBLIC MEETING. 7

the discussions and deliberations of this day will result in the
advancement of the cause we seek to promote, and will
redound to the honor of the Commonwealth, and the welfare
of its people.

I have now the pleasure of introducing Mr. N. T. Leonard,
President of the Hampden Agricultural Society.

ADDRESS OF WELCOME,

BY N. T. LEONARD, ESQ.

Gentlemen of the State Board of Agriculture: — This is the
second occasion on which I have had an opportunity, for a
brief period, to attend the sessions of your Board. Some
ten years ago, when you had a meeting of your Board in
this county, in the city of Springfield, then the town of
Springfield, I had the privilege of being present with you for
a short time. I am very happy to meet you here upon this
occasion, and to welcome you*to this place. I am very happy
to do so as a citizen of the town of Westfield, and as the
representative of the Hampden Agricultural Society. That
society has had a chartered existence for thirty years. Its
limits are coextensive with the county. We have, as you
know, three other societies, made up in part or Avholly of the
inhabitants of this county. But in regard to the society at
large, you will not expect me to say anything, particularly at
this time, in regard to its operations, because in a very few
days we expect to present to the Board a written or printed
report of the proceedings of the society during the past year.
As you are here so happily, and under so favorable circum-
stances, this afternoon, it may, perhaps, not be inappropriate
that I should say a few words in regard to the agricultural
and the mechanical and manufacturing arts in the town of
Westfield.

Our county society was inaugurated for the purpose of
encouraging agriculture and the mechanic arts. That is the
ground upon which the county societies stand, and so far as
this county is represented in its agriculture, its productions
now may be mentioned, perhaps, in this order : the production
of hay, of beef, and of tobacco. The three are, perhaps, now
the leading objects of our farmers. As far as regards hay,

8 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

we have a soil here that is well adapted to the cultivation of
grass. We have a production of grass that, perhaps, is
unexcelled in any part of the country, and we have, as con-
nected with that, as I have said, the production of beef. Our
farmers have had in times past, and have at the present time,
the faculty of selecting from the whole region round about,
the choicest cattle to be put into their stalls, and they have
taken care to improve their opportunities in that regard.
They have taken care to have a sufficient supply of those
tender, succulent grasses, generally in the form of rowen,
with which those cattle are fed, together with such an
amount of grain as may be necessary from time* to time.
And we have had as a town, as the members of the Board
know, who have long been connected with it, or those who
have resided in this vicinity, or in the vicinity of Boston, the
reputation, as a farming community, for producing, not to say
the best of beef, but beef that is unexcelled, I may say, in
the market at Brighton. This lias been the case during my
observation of forty-four years as a resident of this town.
The production of beef has been a source of great profit to
our farmers. They have known how to gather the money
from this source, and, as a general result, they have made
money out of it, and as a general thing, they have known
how to take care of that money when they have got it, by
investing it in bonds, mortgages, notes and railroad stocks ;
and the consequence is, that our farmers who have been
beef producers are among the wealthiest persons in the com-
munity, and deservedly so. We have an institution among
us, founded by the liberality of a gentleman, who, with his
father, and perhaps his grandfather, were beef-producers — Mr.
Samuel Mather. Our Athenceum was endowed by him dur- .
ing his life-time. He has gone to his reward, but his memory
still lives in regard to this matter. He was a representative
man, like his father before him, of these beef-producers. I
might mention other names, but it is not necessary. You
will recognize among the names of men here, old names that
were known forty, fifty, sixty years ago, as the names of men
celebrated as beef-producers, and the men who now bear
them are engaged in the feeding of beef. There is one
drawback to this matter, perhaps. The production of wheat

INDUSTRIES OF WESTFIELD. 9

is not so extensive as it was at one time. I do not know that
a bushel of wheat has been raised in this town for the last six
years. The reason is, I suppose, that the cultivation of the
other article I have mentioned, tobacco, has consumed a great
portion of the fertilizers that could be produced here, and the
consequence is, as we cannot raise it as we did once by the
aid of fertilizers under a bounty given by the State, we have
ceased to raise that article entirely. The consequence is, that
some of our meadows that have heretofore yielded line grasses
have been ploughed up, and those fine soils planted to tobacco,
so that tobacco, upon the whole, has been an enemy, so to
speak, of this other leading branch of agriculture. But still
they go along together. Our farmers make out, some of
them, by purchasing pressed hay from the region of the
Hudson, to supply the wants of their stock. But on the
whole, as I said before, we are a prosperous community.
Our farmers are deservedly prosperous in these various
branches.

Then we have our manufactures, — the manufacture of
whips, the manufacture of cigars, and the manufacture of
paper, standing, perhaps, in that order; undoubtedly they
do in regard to the number of men employed, and in regard
to the amount of capital invested. I will not speak in regard
to those manufactures at this time, because it is not neces-
sary. The reports that are made from time to time of the
industries of the Commonwealth, will sufficiently show the
facts to those who are here assembled.

I wish to say, before closing, in regard to the State Board
of Agriculture, that those of us who know it, recognize it as a
beneficent institution of the Commonwealth, and as a highly
useful institution to the Commonwealth. We read your pro-
ceedings in the annual reports made by your excellent Secre-
tary, and we are interested, instructed and charmed by them.
We are very happy to welcome the Board on this occasion,
that we may hear from their own mouths, instead of reading
on paper, the words of wisdom which they may present to us
in regard to the working of God's providence, and its connec-
tion with the agriculture of the Commonwealth of Massachu-
setts.

10 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

The first regular exercise on the programme was a
LECTURE ON MILK,

BY PROF. L. B. ARNOLD, SECRETARY AMERICAN DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION.

Milk and its products have lately become prominent, not
only as themes of study and investigation, but as sources of
individual profit and as the basis of large commercial trans-
actions.

Formerly, the production of milk, as a means of revenue
to the farmer, was held to be of trifling account as compared
with the raising of stock, or wool, or with the products of the
field. But now it has become one of the leading branches of
the farm in the Eastern and Middle States, and is rapidly
rising to an equal position in the great West.** Why has so
much importance been, of late, attached to the dairy interest?
Why has it risen from comparative obscurity and taken a
place among the leading agricultural pursuits? Why has it,
to-day, been assigned a distinct place and equal share in the
time and attention of this Board of Agriculture? It is not
because milk, relative^, forms any greater proportion of the
agricultural products of the country than it formerly did.
The number of cows and the number of inhabitants in the
country sustain now the same relation to each other that they
have done for many years. The number of cows has some-
times gained a little upon the population, and then it has
fallen off again. Recently, it has gained a little in the State
of New York, but this is hardly true of many other States.
In the West, the increase of population runs ahead of the
increase of cows, and, taking the country as a whole, neither
the quantity of milk, nor the aggregate of products manufac-
tured from it, has made any essential variation, per capita,
from the earliest settlement of the country clown to the pres-
ent time. The whole number of cows, as the various census
reports show, has been continually about thirty per cent, of
the number of inhabitants.

In the United States^in 1850, it was 27 per cent, of the whole population,
in 1860, " 30
in 1870, " 29

IMPORTANCE OF THE DAIRY. 11

In the State of N. Y., in 1845, it was 38 per cent, of the whole population,
in 1850, " 30
in 1855, " 30
in 18G0, " 29
in 1865, " 30
in 1870, " 31

It is not, therefore, the comparatively large number of cows
that gives the dairy interest its greater importance. The
ratio between cows and inhabitants changes so slowly, that it
is altogether probable that it does not differ much to-day
from what it was in 1860 and 1870. The quantity of milk
per cow has probably increased a little in the Eastern and
Middle States, but this does not account for the unusual
attention which dairy products are receiving. It is the com-
paratively higher price and relatively greater value the-
products of milk have recently assumed, added to the greater
certainty of uniform annual returns and the diminished wear
upon the soil, that have made the business of dairying attrac-
tive, and given it a leading position in the commerce of the-
country. When I commenced dairying, cheese sold for seven,
cents a pound, and butter from sixteen to eighteen cents.
Now, the same products command more than double those
prices. Such an increase in price is well calculated to make
a business interesting.

The amount of milk required to make a pound of butter or
cheese has been a little diminished, and so has the cost of
manufacturing, and this will nearly offset for the greater cost
of milk production, leaving an increased margin for profit.
The price of other agricultural products has also increased in
the same time, but not in the same proportion. The greater
value given to dairy products, by reason of improved methods
of manufacture, is what has brought the business of dairying
to the front of agricultural pursuits, and made its importance
felt in commerce. Its products in the United States, accord-
ing to the estimates of the Butter and Cheese Exchange of
New York, are now $500,000,000 annually. The large pro-
portions it has assumed have compelled respect from all
parties, and the increased profits from improved quality have
led its more enterprising votaries to unite their efforts in the
common cause of further advances in value,, by means of still

12 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

further improvements in the quality of their goods. To
effect this, a closer observation and a more careful study of
the production and properties of milk have seemed necessary ;
and to this end dairymen have almost everywhere formed
themselves into national, sectional, state and county associa-
tions, with a view to mutual aid in prosecuting the study of
milk and improving in the arts of its manufacture. From
what has been done in this direction, many new facts relating
to milk have been already developed, which are beginning to
tell with most astonishing results. It is from our better
acquaintance with the properties of milk from which all the
modern improvements have come. And this better acquaint-
ance has not come fortuitously, but by way of constant and
unremitting observation, discussion and investigation. As
progress is made in this line of study, the work appears more
simple and plain. It becomes more and more evident to the
dairy student, that the successful production of both butter
and cheese depends on a few general principles to which all
the manipulations in the manufacture of either can be referred,
and that the clearer our knowledge of these leading principles,
the better application of them can we make in reaching
desired results.

Having made these general statements in regard to milk
as an agricultural and commercial product, and the necessity
of an intimate acquaintance with its properties as a means of
improving its manufactured products, I will now trace, as far
as the time allotted me will allow, some of the peculiarities
of this interesting secretion, and the circumstances that
affect it.

Milk, like all other animal products, is formed from the
blood, and is derived from it with but little alteration. Milk
and blood have essentially the same composition. Like
blood, it contains all that is necessary to the support and
growth of animal bodies. But while they both afford perfect
nutrition, they differ a little in the condition of their elements.
Milk contains a little more water, and blood a little more
mineral matter. In milk are found caseine and sugar; in
blood, fibrine. But in the general proportion of their nutritive
properties, milk, blood and flesh are so nearly alike as to be
counted only as different forms of the same thing.

ELEMENTS OF MILK. 13

For the study of milk by dairymen, it is seldom necessary
to carry to analysis, any further than to separate it into five
or six of the compound elements that make up its substance.
These are, albuminoids in the form of caseine and albumen ;
sugar, butter or fatty matter; water, and ash, or mineral
matter. Each of these substances is a compound capable of
separation into several different elements. There is no fixed
relation between the several parts or compounds of which
milk is composed. They exist in an almost endless variety
of proportion. They vary with every varying circumstance
in the health and treatment of the cow, and with the ever-
varyiug constitutions of different cows. It is rare, indeed,
in any herd, to find any two cows that will give milk exactly
alike. It is extremely difficult, therefore, to establish any
definite standard which would be an exact representation of
milk in general. But the milk of a large number of cows
mixed together will, under ordinary circumstances, show
about the following result in one hundred parts : —

Albuminoids, caseine and albumen, . . . .3.25

Butter, 3.50

Sugar, ......... 5.50

Ash, 75

Solids 13.00

Water, 87.00

100.00

To discuss all the elements of milk would require a ple-
thoric octavo ; I propose to speak to-day chiefly of its fatty
matters. All the constituents of milk, except the butter, exist,
not only in a state of complete solution, but in chemical union
with each other and the water which the milk contains. The
butter alone exists in a solid state. If the solution was wholly
divested of the particles of butter, it would be as transparent
and colorless as water. The white color of milk is due to the
presence of the innumerable solid globules of butter. These
butter globules, or, as they are sometimes called, milk glob-
ules, are mechanically suspended in the liquid mass, and float

14 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

about in it freely, and whiten every part with their presence.
In form, they are all round or egg-shaped, but in size they
are very unequal, varying all the way from one two-thousandth
of an inch in diameter down to indistinguishable minuteness.
Just how milk is formed from the blood is not clearly knoAvn,
that I am aware of; but that it undergoes changes in the
capillaries and minute ducts, through which it passes to the
larger milk-tubes, I consider probable. In fact, milk changes
all the way from its introduction into or formation in the
udder, till it passes out of the teat.

The system of branching tubes, which permeates all parts
of the lacteal glands and conveys the milk to the teats, per-
forms functions analogous to those performed by the stomach,
— doing double duty in the way of excreting juices to mingle
with and modify their contents, and, at the same time, absorb-
ing a portion of these contents as they pass along through
them. And they also perform another function in common
with the stomach ; to wit, they develop in their excretions a
ferment, which mingles with the milk, and produces a distinct
species of fermentation in the milk as it passes, just as the
ferment developed in the juices of the stomach produce fer-
mentative action in the contents of that organ. I arrive at
this conclusion partly by observed facts, and partly from the
analogous functions of the stomach and other organs.

A word in regard to fermentation. In all those cases where
a small amount of matter quickly communicates to a large
amount of matter its own peculiar conditions, as when a little
leaven is added to a large lump of dough, a little taint to
animal matter, or a little yeast to a large amount of beer, the
changes which occur in the larger mass of matter are accom-
panied with the development of myriads of living organic
germs, to whose growth and wonderfully rapid multiplication
the new conditions are ascribed. This fact of the presence
and growth of microscopic germs in a great number of cases
which have been examined, it is believed, warrants the conclu-
sion that in all similar cases of infection, where the new con-
ditions can be indefinitely communicated from one parcel of
matter to another, the active agent concerned in such changes
consists of minute germs, either animal or vegetable. When-
ever fermeutation occurs, it implies that the growth and mul-

FERMENTATIVE GERMS. 15

triplication of living germs accompany the process, aud these
germs are called a "ferment."

In the secretions of the salivary glands there is a ferment
which dissolves albuminoids and changes sugar into an acid,
and these effects may be carried on after the secretions have
been separated from the body of the animal, and can be con-
tinued from parcel to parcel of matter, as in any other case
of fermentation. In my investigations of rennet, I found the
active agent to consist of minute germs, which proved to be
the spores of blue mould. I watched them through their
changes till they threw out filaments of mould, and multiplied
by seed-balls on. the ends of those filaments. The action in
rennet is that of a ferment or true yeast, and may be contin-
ued indefinitely from one batch to another. The ohanges
which occur in the kidneys and bladder appear to be of the
same nature. I have found germs in the bladder analogous
to those in the stomach, and used them to carry on a continued
series of changes after they had been separated from that
organ. And lately the action of the pancreas in converting
chyme into chyle has been proved to be the action of a
ferment or yeast. The germs are now separated from the
secretions of those glands, and used as a remedial agent, the
secretions, after the removal of the germs, being entirely
inert. From their close resemblance to the rennet germs,
they are supposed to have a similar origin.

Finding so many of the secretions of the body exerting
their modifying influences through the agency of organic
germs, it might reasonably be expected that the secretions of
the mammary glands would not be free from them. Accord-
ingly, we find milk to contain ferments which work changes
in it both before and after it leaves the udder. The action
of the mammary glands imitates that of the stomach in
another respect. The double function of the stomach in
throwing into its cavity a secretion abounding with a
digestive yeast, and, at the same time, absorbing the con-
tents of the stomach made liquid by that yeast, is imitated in
a measure by the lacteal glands. The tubes which permeate
those glands are lined with absorbent vessels, which are con-
stantly taking up the milk that flows through them, and their
activity is so great that a moderate secretion of milk will be

16 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

taken up and carried into the general circulation as fast as it
is secreted.

But the absorbents which line the milk-ducts do not take
up all parts of the milk equally. The fatty portions disap-
pear the most rapidly ; the sugar and albuminoids go after-
wards, and lastly the mineral matter.

From the rapid absorption of the butter globules, the
ofteuer a cow is milked the richer in fat will her milk be, if
all other circumstances are equal.

The chano-es which occur in milk while in the udder are as

o

great as those which occur after it is drawn, but they are of a
different character. Souring and putrefaction do not take
place as readily in the udder as out of it, but the absorption
of cream is steady and large. I know it is said that milking
at long intervals makes the yield less, but the milk richer.
Prof. Johnston, of England, says this, and that milking once
a day makes the milk richer by one-seventh than milking
twice a day. But trials of milk thus drawn have proved the
statement incorrect, and the contrary true. In trials of milk-
ing once in twelve hours, once in six, and once in three hours,
each shortening of the time increased the per cent, of cream.
When the comparison was made between twelve hours and
three hours, the latter time gave forty per cent, the most
cream, and it had the highest color and the highest flavor,
showing that the longer the milk stayed in the bag, the less
butter it will make and the poorer the quality.

The absorption of the cream accounts for the difference in
quality between the first and last part of the milking. I
know that in making this statement I am running counter to
the generally received opinion that the last part of a milking
is the richest in cream, because the cream rises to the top of the
udder, and, therefore, comes out last. But this opinion, how-
ever common, cannot be true. There is no chance for, nor evi-
dence of, motion backwards or towards the ramifications of
the milk-tubes. The tubes, it is true, have a continuous con-
nection, from one end to the other, with an opening at the
bottom of the teat. But there are contractions in these tubes
which serve as valves, and which prevent a continuous flow
in either direction. Beginning at the bottom of the tube, or
lower end of the teat, its open mouth is stopped, and the

STRUCTURE OF THE UDDER. 17

milk prevented from running out, except under strong pres-
sure, by a contraction at its extremity. Following the tube
upward to the top of the teat, where all the branches centre
into one common channel, there is another contraction sup-
plied with a band of muscles, which is under the control of the
cow's will. Further up the tubes, where the branches have
connections, there are contractions of a similar kind, that
appear to be, at least partially, under the control of the will.
These contractions are kept closed all the time, except when
the cow makes a special effort to relax them, as when the
milk is being drawn. Upon handling the teats, the first effort
of the cow is to increase the stringency of these contractions,
drawing them so tight as to shut off the flow entirely ; but
after a minute or so, if all is quiet, she will slacken the con-
tractions, and let the milk flow down so it will press heavily
upon the teat. An expert milker can thus draw the milk in
a short time ; or, if a tube is inserted, it will flow out quickly
of its own accord. But this state of relaxation will not re-
main long. The cow will soon begin to draw up the slack
gradually, if all is quiet, and, tightening more and more, will,
after a little, cut off the flow entirely. She will do this the
more easily and effectually as the quantity in her bag dimin-
ishes ; and when the flow toward the last of the milking is
completely cut off, the milker may as well bid good-by to
what is left ; he cannot get it till the bag has been again filled,
and another relaxation induced. When such a case of cuttino;
off the last part of the milk occurs, the milk of the next
milking, if the cream rises in the bag, ought to be the richer for
it ; but I have not found it so. It is a curious circumstance,
that while one kind of fatty matter is being absorbed and
carried away into the general circulation, auother variety of
fatty matter is as constantly being formed to fill its place.
The new kind of fatty matter which is formed is not equal in
bulk to that which has been absorbed, but in some other
respects it is equal, and more than equal.

In the curing of cheese, the changes which occur are now
known to be the effect of the action of the rennet which was
used to coagulate the milk. In the changes which occur in
the latter part of the curing process, it is known that a part
of the albuminous matter in the cheese is changed into fatty
3

18 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

matter, making the cheese appear rich in fats. This degenera-
tion of albuminoids into fatty matter always occurs in well-
ripened cheese. A similar change goes on in the bodies of
animals. It is well known, that a part of the album inous
matter consumed by animals may be converted into fat, and
the fat used as a supporter of respiration. Just how this
change is produced in the bodies of animals is not clear, but
the formation of fatty matter in cheese is the result of
fermentation, as certainly as fusil-oil is a result of alcoholic
fermentation.

One of the ferments which the lacteal glands throw into the
ducts in their secretions has a digestive agency similar to
that in the later stages of its action in the conversion of milk
into ripe cheese, and also something of its earlier action, for
when it is abundant, it coagulates milk the same as rennet,
and at all times it has the effect of forming in the milk a
strong smelling oil, so light as to be volatile at sixty degrees.
This oil is the cause of the peculiar odor of new milk, and
also that of tainted milk. Its formation in milk is constant,
both before and after it is drawn, when temperature and
other circumstances will allow. The souring of milk, even,
does not stop it, but when it stands open to the air, being
volatile at a low degree, it passes off into the atmosphere as
fast as it is formed, and is not perceived, except when its
formation is very rapid, as in tainted milk.

Tainted milk, in all its varying conditions and varieties,
has its origin in this oil, or the ferment from which it origi-
nates. The part which it plays in tainted milk has been
proved by covering a vessel of new milk and agitating the
vessel occasionally till the milk was tainted and strongly
charged with offensive odor. The oil was then collected by
distillation of the milk, and examined. It was perfectly
limpid and inodorous at and near the freezing point, but upon
warming a little it passed away quickly with all the offensive
odor of tainted milk.

The effect of this newly discovered oil in dairy practices is
very great. It is a great stimulator of ferments. It hurries
up every species of fermentation wThich occurs in milk,
cheese and butter. In milk, it not only occasions tainting,
but it hurries up souring, coagulation and decay. In cheese,

THE OILS IN MILK. 19

it stimulates every change from curding and curing to putre-
factive decomposition. In butter, it leads on all the changes
that occasion rancidity and the final destruction of the
butter. Taken in connection with the ferment or yeast
whose action evokes it, the dairyman finds in it his bitterest
and deadliest foe. But like Hercules, it has a vulnerable
point. A little heat dissipates the oil and kills the yeast that
forms it. In fact, it will escape and get out of the way at all
ordinary temperatures, if it has a chance to do so. But heat
drives it away effectually, and is a perfect antidote to taint in
all its phases. A second antidote is filtering through some
good absorbent, like charcoal. Passing milk through char-
coal will remove taint from warm milk, and give it a most
delicious flavor. Cold will silence the activity of the yeast,
but will not kill it, and acidity will neutralize the oil for a
time, but it will assert its sway upon the first favorable
opportunity. In the treatment of milk, airing is a more
efficient antidote.

There is another kind of oleaginous matter in milk which
should not be overlooked. I allude to the light essential oils
derived from the grasses or other herbage on which the cows
feed. These oils have attracted but little attention from
dairymen, except in some of their most obnoxious forms.
The essential oils of cabbage, turnips, onions, garlics and the
like, are offensive, and we avoid them in the food of the milch
cow. Those in the grasses are more agreeable, and should
be preserved when they safely can be. The essential oils of
all the foods upon which milch cows subsist are taken up in
their milk, and exist in it in a free state, and not like the fat
of the globules, in a state of emulsion. They enter largely into
the flavor of milk, butter and cheese. When derived from
the sweet-scented grasses, they give a delicious aroma to the
products of milk, which epicures are often willing to pay a
high price for. Like the animal oil I have just described,
they stimulate all the changes in milk and its products, and
however agreeable they may be, are consequently unfavorable
to keeping quality.

The most of these flavoring oils are so light that they can
be easily driven away by heat, but not all of them. The
lighter varieties may be thus expelled from milk by heat, or

20 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

taken up and neutralized by souring it. Much of the skill
in fancy dairying depends on the skill with which these oils
are managed.

Our chief interest in the fatty matters in milk centres in
the butter globules. Upon the structure and treatment of these
infinitesimal bodies and the peculiarities of the fats which
compose them depends the success of the dairyman in turning
out a gilt-edged product of either cheese or butter ; and it is
important that every operator and producer, and all who
handle or care for, or are in any way concerned in the manu-
facture of butter, should be familiar with all that is known in
regard to them. A clear knowledge of a few leading facts
concerning the structure of the butter globules, and the other
fatty matters found in milk, will be found more efficient in
leading to desired results, especially in butter-making, than
the random labors and blind imitations of rules made by
parties ignorant of their structure and properties, though the
parties may boast of long years of experience.

In searching for ultimate facts in regard to dairying, and
especially the department of butter-making, the microscope
becomes an efficient and interesting aid, and should be in the
hands of every intelligent and progressive dairyman. In
examining milk with a strong magnifier, we discover not only
that globules of fatty matter, of unequal dimensions, float me-
chanically in the watery mass, but that these little bodies,
minute as they are, are made of a speck of several kinds of
fat, and in a state of emulsion, with a little curdy matter or
caseine, and the whole is inclosed within a very thin sack of
curd-like matter.

In the manufacture of butter it is the business of the ope-
rator to work off the delicate sacks which inclose the still
more delicate emulsion of fatty material within them, and to
leave the peeled globules in an unaltered condition. To do
this successfully, without a pretty full knowledge of the
structure and nature of what he is dealing with, is, to say the
least, a critical undertaking. One who knows nothing of the
nature of the work he was undertaking could hardly be ex-
pected to do it successfully. He might, indeed, wear the
pellicles off by friction — and most people go to work that
way ; but then the larger globules, meeting with the most

CHURNING OF MILK. 21

friction, will become naked first, and while the skins are
wearing from the smaller ones, the friction continued upon
those already peeled will break up the emulsion, and separate
the different constituents from each other. The caseine, which
made up a part of the emulsion, will become a little speck of
curd, and the fatty portion will become grease, and give a
greasy appearance to the butter, injuring its flavor, its
appearance and its keeping.

If the churning ceases when the larger globules have been
peeled, the unpeeled ones will not, at the proper temperature
for churning, adhere to them, but will remain in the buttermilk.
There are two horns to the dilemma, taking either of which
will injure the result. The dairyman who has learned that
all the globules should be peeled at once, and that, when
peeled, they can bear only the most careful treatment without
destroying the chemical union of the fatty matters, with one-
half per cent, of caseine, which makes all the difference be-
tween butter and grease, or between butter and oleo-margarine,
may contrive some way to work them off at the same time,
and avoid doing any violence to them, or any part of
them, afterwards, and be able to produce a perfect product,
perhaps in the first effort ; while the operator who knows
nothing of what is required, may try a thousand times,
and foil at last. Knowledge is power in the department
of butter-making, as well as in any other place. I have
seen just the results which I have here indicated worked
out in actual practice, — the one by knowing, the other by not
knowing the nature of the work which was required to be
done. And when the mass of dairymen, by a more complete
knowledge of the properties of milk, become as well posted
as the few are now, this now difficult business of butter-mak-
ing will be done with as much certainty and success as we
now coagulate milk with rennet.

Question. What degree of light is the most favorable to
the best results ?

Mr. Arnold. This room would make an excellent place
for preserving it.

Question. Has the speaker had any experience in churn-
ing milk?

22 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Mr. Arnold. Yes, sir, a great deal. I have tried a great
man}r experiments in churning.

Question. I wish to know in which way we can get the
most butter, and which way leaves the best milk for cheese ;
whether we can get more butter from cream that is raised, or
from milk churned directly from the cow, and then what is
the value of the milk for cheese ?

Mr. Arnold. In regard to churning, it varies with the
quality of the milk. The milk of some cows requires to be
churned to get the whole of the butter ; the milk of other
cows does not require that, and you can get just as much
from the cream. To illustrate : Dr. Sturtevant has shown
us that the Jerseys, as a class, give milk in which the butter
globules are very large. Now, the large globules rise easier,
because, in the first place, they meet with less resistance in
proportion to their bulk in rising ; and, in the second place,
their specific gravity is less, when compared with milk, than
the smaller ones. Perhaps I ought to explain how that is.
If you take a globule the size of that lamp, and fill it with
fat, this glass will answer for the pellicle which surrounds it,
and forms a certain percentage of its contents. If you take a
globule a quarter of an inch in thickness, and surround it
with a skin just as thick as this glass is, the skin will bear a
much greater percentage as compared with the contents it
incloses. The film which incloses the large globules, as well
as the small ones, is of a cheesy character, and is heavier than
the milk itself. It is the heaviest part of milk ; and in the
small globules you get so great a percentage of cheesy matter
around the smaller amount of flit, that it brings it just about
to the weight of milk, and, consequently, there is very little
tendency for it to come up. Now, when you have milk of
that kind, with small globules, you cannot get the whole of
the butter in the cream which rises upon it, and by churning
such milk you can get more butter than you can by under-
taking to raise the cream ; while, if the milk was of the Jer-
sey type, you might just as well churn the cream as the whole
of the milk, because the cream will all come up. There will
be nothing left worth working for, and, practically, you will
not see any difference ; while in the milk of another cow,
where the globules were very small, you would get a portion

FATS ARTIFICIALLY ADDED. 23

of the butter that you would not get without churning the
whole of the milk.

Mr. H. S. Goodale, of Egremont. What would be the effect
upon cheese of putting into milk, from which all the butter
has been extracted, oleo-margarine, or the fat extracted from
suet?

Mr. Aenold. The fat which has been artificially mixed
with, the milk will take the place of that which was originally
in it, and the effect will be very nearly the same as if the but-
ter had not been removed. The quality called richness in
cheese, depends not so much upon the amount or kind of fatty
matter it contains, as upon the condition of the caseine, of
which the curd is chiefly composed. If we take curd as it is
formed in the milk-vat in the usual process of making cheese,
and dry it quickly, or before it undergoes any change, it will
become about as hard and tough as dried raw-hide, and will
look very much like it, and be about as tasteless and indi-
gestible, for it can only be dissolved with an alkali. If, on
the other hand, another part of the same curd is kept moist
and at a proper temperature, it will undergo fermentation and
assume the flavor of cheese, and become soft, tender and
salvy, and readily soluble in water, and we say the cheese is
rich.

The activity of the fermentation which brings out these
new and desirable conditions, depends on the admixture of
fatty matter with the caseine. The fermentation (which dairy-
men speak of as the " cheesing process ") will not go on in
caseine alone nor in fat alone. The two must be mixed in
certain proportions to produce certain effects. If there is but
little fat, there will be but little change in the curd, or but
little of the "cheesing process," and the curd will become dry
and hard and scarcely soluble or digestible, as in the case of
skim cheese. If there is more fat, then there will be more of
the " cheesing process." The presence of fat of some kind
is a necessity in carrying on the cheesy fermentation. Now,
it matters little what kind of fatty matter is used, if there is
in each the same degree of fluidity. Hard fats have less
effect than soft ones. Stearine has less effect than margarine,
margarine less than olein, olein less than essential oils, and
those which are volatile have most effect of all. If you take

24 BOAED OF AGRICULTURE.

the butter out of milk and put some other fat of equal fluidity
in its place, the cheesing process will go on as effectually as
if the butter had never been removed. This is now done
practically and successfully in several cheese factories. I
saw, not long ago, a thousand cheeses which were made in
just this way. The milk of which cheese was to be made,
was set in cooler-pails twenty-four to thirty-six hours, and
three and a half pounds of butter taken from each one hun-
dred pounds of milk, and one pound of oleo-margarine was
mixed with the skim-milk at the time of applying the rennet,
and the cheese, when cured, was apparently as rich as if the
butter had all been in. There was a little advantage and a
little disadvantage in this operation. I noticed the circum-
stances of those cheeses very particularly. The oleo-marga-
rine which was put in had this advantage, that it was not com-
bined with any cheesy matter. The ferment takes hold of
the naked grease better than when it is in an emulsion, as it
is in butter ; but then it had this disadvantage, that it could
not be distributed as evenly as the fatty matter in the cream
would be through the milk. The fatty matter was in larger
globules, and did not feed the ferment as evenly, and that
made the curing a little slower ; but, in the end, a smaller
amount answered the purpose.

Mr. Boise, of Blandford. What effect would it have had
on that cheese to have added sufficient rennet to coagulate the
cheese in about eight minutes? Would there not be more
of the taste of the rennet, and would there not be more danger
of the cheese being injurious to health?

Mr. Arnold. Your objection has some apparent philoso-
phy, but in the practical operation of cheese-making it does
not avail anything, for the reason that no more rennet is used
than is used in ordinary cheese-making. The milk is coagu-
lated quickly. The makers are obliged to coagulate it
quickly, for the reason that if they do not, the oil would
float ; it will come up in a short time. You cannot keep it
mixed with the milk ; so they heat the milk high enough to
put in the ordinary amount of rennet, and make it coagulate
in eight or ten minutes ; and if the rennet is pure, as it ought
to be, you will perceive no more flavor from it than if the
milk was cooler and a longer time in coagulating.

BUTTER AND CHEESE. 25

Mr. Boise. Is the cheese really as wholesome?

Mr. Arnold. Yes, sir ; it is just as good and wholesome.
There is no objection on that score, unless you make a differ-
ence in the digestibility of butter melted and butter not
melted. The condition of the cheesy matter is the same as in
other cheese. But the difference of making cheese out of
oleo-margarine, and making butter out of oleo-margarine, is
very wide.

Question. What kind of stuff is oleo-margarine ?

Mr. Arnold. I will tel] you. I will say in the first place,
that butter and tallow are not so different as a great many
people would suppose from looking at them. Two of the fats
in each, oleine and margarine, are animal fats, and they are
alike in butter and in tallow. The difference is this ; butter
is made up of oleine, margarine and cheesy matter, all in a
state of emulsion. Tallow is made up of oleine, margarine
and stearine. You have stearine in the place of cheesy matter,
but it is the emulsion of the oleo-margarine with the cheesy
matter that makes it butter instead of grease, and you cannot
get that emulsion artificially. You might just as well boil up
a quantity of veal, and then churn it with ground bones, with
a view to getting a live calf out of it, as to undertake to
make butter from oleo-margarine, for you cannot get an
emulsion ; it is perfectly impossible ; but the case of cheese
is altogether different ; you there use it to feed the ferment,
and if it has no objectionable flavor, it will answer the pur-
pose well.

Mr. Wetherell. Then, if I understand you, Westfield
may hereafter become a better dairy town than any in Her-
kimer County, because they have tallow enough here to make
butter or cheese, according to your statement, — is that not so ?

Mr. Arnold. Yes, sir, you are about half right. The
fine beef of Westfield may furnish oleo-margarine for cheese,
but it will not make butter.

Question. What effect does high feeding have upon the
size of the globules?

Mr. Arnold. I have noticed invariably, in all my examina-
tions of milk, that where cows were fed very highly, when I
was drying them off and fattening them at the same time, that
the globules of the milk were larger, under those circum-

4

26 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

stances, than when the cows were not in so high flesh, other
circumstances being1 the same.

Question. Did you ever notice any difference in the
quality of milk of cows fed upon dried food, and on steamed
food?

Mr. Aknold. I have never fed enough steamed food to
decide upon that matter, but I have no doubt that milk from
steamed food would be the best ; it approaches green food
nearest. Milk is improved by having the water incorporated
chemically with the constituents of the food ; they go into the
circulation in a better condition. They are nearer what you
want. There is less change required to get them into milk or
into flesh, than if the water has been separated. You can
never make that water unite chemically with them again.
The action is something like that of condensing milk. When
you have dried milk down, and condensed it into a paste, if
you add water to it again, you do not make milk of it, you
get a mechanical mixture, not a chemical one, as it was before.
It is just so with drying food. You dry it down, and then
soak it, the water is not chemically united with it, but you
get a better incorporation by steaming it than you would by
feeding it dry and letting the moisture in the cow's body soak
it up.

Question. Would or would you not get a larger quantity
of milk from steamed food than from dry?

Mr. Aknold. You would get a larger quantity ; there is
no question about that. All the experiments show that there
is a larger quantity made from steamed food than from dry
food, when equal quantities are taken.

Question. What is the best food for cows?

Mr. Arnold. Green succulent food is the best for milk.
When I have had occasion to purchase feed, I have got more
milk and of better quality, for the money expended, than I
could get from anything else I could buy. Every refuse of
the flou ring-mills is excellent milk-producing food. Corn,
rye, barley and oats produce good milk, and that liberally,
but the largest flow can be obtained from green food, as
roots, grass and green herbage.

Question. Would you not prefer mixed feed, corn, rye,
oats and buckwheat?

FEEDING FOR MILK. 27

Mr. Arnold. A variety of food is necessary to the best
results, and in the long run a mixture or change of food
would doubtless be best.

Question. Did you ever feed oil-cake?

Mr. Arnold. Yes, sir, I have fed some, not a great deal.

Question. Do you know what the effect would be in
regard to the quantity of milk from oil-cake, and other
grains ?

Mr. Arnold. The quantity from oil-cake is large. It
produces a large flow of milk, but I have not been able to
feed very much of it without communicating a flavor to the
milk, and I have reduced the quantity, consequently, when I
have fed it, to a small amount.

Question. Did you ever know the comparative difference
between the amount of milk made from oil-cake, and the
amount of milk which is made from other food ?

Mr. Arnold. I never have made any precise comparisons.

Question. Can you get as good quality of milk by feed-
ing bran as the heavier meals ?

Mr. Arnold. I get a little better, I think. The elements
of milk seem to be well united in bran.

Question. Can you make as much butter by feeding bran
as you can by feeding corn-meal?

Mr. Arnold. I think I can get more by feeding the same
cost ; and by feeding the same weight I can get more.

Question. Is the quality of the butter as good ?

Mr. Arnold. I think it is better. If you feed corn-meal
highly, it causes a little inflammation ; it raises the tempera-
ture of the cow a little higher, and that is unfavorable to the
quality of the butter. These remarks apply to liberal feed-
ing.

Question. How is it in regard to the health of the ani-
mal ? Is corn as healthy as bran ?

Mr. Arnold. I don't think it is. As I stated, corn is a
little inclined to make cattle feverish, especially Eastern
corn.

Mr. Ellsworth. How high would you heat milk to get
the cream of the different cows?

Mr. Arnold. One hundred and thirty degrees would
usually be enough.

28 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Mr. Ellsworth. I would like to ask what was the char-
acter of the cheese made without rennet?

Mr. Arnold. It was as palatable as other cheese, but
what the results were on health I have never learned.

Mr. Ellsworth. My experience has been that it is hard,
dry and unpalatable. I have seen cheese made in that way
when the milk was sour.

Mr. Arnold. That is another thing. This milk that I
mentioned as coagulating during the night was sweet, not
sour. The coagulation that I spoke of, being the result of
the ferment contained in the milk when it came from the cow,
is not the souring coagulation ; it is perfectly sweet.

Question. Can as much butter be obtained from milk
that is heated ?

Mr. Arnold. In all the exact experiments which have
come to my knowledge heated milk has produced a little more
butter than milk not heated, other circumstances being equal.

Question. The question I asked was, if as much butter
could be made from milk as by letting it stand and cool before
it is heated?

Mr. Arnold. It will make no difference whether it is
heated before or after it is cooled, if done while sweet.

Question. Is the quality of butter affected by the tem-
perature at which the cow is kept before the milk is drawn in
the winter?

Mr. Arnold. Yes, sir ; if you raise the temperature above
or below the natural one, it raises the quality of the milk.
A cow wants such a stable as will keep her as nearly in her
normal condition as possible.

Question. Does it affect the quantity and quality both?

Mr. Arnold. It affects both, and affects the churning very
materially.

Question. Have you ever seen any effects upon the udder
from feeding shorts? Is it likely to produce garget?

Mr. Arnold. No, sir, I have not ; but I have seen garget
produced by feeding corn-meal. I do not know but it could
be produced by feeding shorts, but I have never seen anything
of the kind. Any stimulating grain is quite liable to produce
garget, especially in the early stages of the cow's milking.
After she has been milked a long while, and her milk begins

CORN-FODDER FOR MILK. 29

to fail, she will accumulate fat, and the stimulus to the bag
will not be so strong as to produce garget ; but in the earlier
stages she is liable to have garget brought on by the extra
tendency to heat towards the udder.

Question. "What is the best remedy for garget ?

Mr. Arnold. Well, to remove the cause.

Question. Have you had any experience in feediug cotton-
seed meal?

Mr. Arnold. No, sir.

Question. Where do you place green corn-fodder in com-
parison with grass or early-cut hay, in increasing or reducing
the quality or quantity of milk?

Mr. Arnold. Well, grass is the best. Grass will make
more milk. I do not know that it will make any more pounds
of milk than corn, but it will make as many pounds and of
better quality. I should have to make a calculation to an-
swer as to the ratio.

Question. Would you advise the raising of corn-fodder?

Mr. Arnold. Most certainly I would.

Question. Both dry and greeu ?

Mr. Arnold. Yes, sir.

Question. Can as much cream be obtained from milk in a
deep vessel as in a shallow one ?

Mr. Arnold. Yes, sir, you can get it all in either case,
provided you make the circumstances right.

Mr. Ellsworth. If milk should be set six inches deep
and scalded at one hundred and thirty degrees, in which way
would you get the most cream, by cooling it down to sixty,
or by letting the heat go away of itself ?

Mr. Arnold. You will get all the cream in either case,
but you will get it quicker by letting the heat die down of its
own accord.

Mr. Ellsworth. Which would be the best for making the
milk into cheese afterwards ?

Mr. Arnold. It would make but little difference, I think.
The cheese from the heated milk will appear a little richer,
and cure a little sooner.

Mr. Root. I would like to ask two questions touching the
keeping of milk. What is the best way to keep milk before
it is delivered at the factory after it is drawn from the

30 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

cow ; and, what is the best method of treating tainted milk
after it is brought to the factory? We find oftentimes that
a can of milk commences coagulating when it is brought to
the factory, and perhaps the milk has not been drawn more
than twelve hours. The milk may be sweet, yet the supposi-
tion on the part of the cheese-maker is that it is sour, and it
is rejected. Now, what is the best method for the cheese-
maker to pursue in handling such milk, when he knows that
some of it has gone into the vat? Very many of us would
like to hear those two questions answered.

Mr. Arnold. The latter question I have already answered
in saying that heating the milk will drive the taint out of it.
If the manufacturer knows that he has got tainted milk in his
vat, if he will heat it up to one hundred and thirty degrees,
he will certainly drive that taint out, drive that volatile oil all
away. You understand that it is volatile at sixty degrees,
and by heating it up to one hundred and thirty degrees, it
will become so expansive that it will all escape, and you will
see nothing of it. Then he can let in water around his vat,
and cool it down to the proper temperature at which he wishes
to work it, and he is all right, provided it has not got so far
along that it will coagulate before he can heat it up high
enough to chick that action. If it has advanced too far for
that, and there is danger of coagulation by heating, then he
should make it up in the usual way, using a little less rennet
than usual, and keeping the curd in the whey at ninety-eight
till acidity is well developed, or till the curd will string well by
the hot-iron test. In regard to keeping milk at home, if you
have milk that is tainted, if you will air it by punching holes
in the bottom of a tin pail, and strain your milk into that
pail, letting the pail stand over your milk-can by any device you
can arrange, so that the milk will fall through the air, it will
take so much of the taint out that the milk will keep nicely.
Then, when you carry the milk to the factory, if you will cut
a hole in the top of the can-cover, say six inches in diameter,
and cover it over with wire cloth, such as is used for strainers,
or a little coarser, if you please, and put a rim about two
inches high around it, so that the milk shall not slop over,
the animal odor will clear out of the way, and will not trouble
you at all. You may take the worst tainted milk you ever

USE OF PIG'S RENNET. 31

knew, and put it in a can with a cover so constructed, and
you can carry it three, four or five miles to a factory with
perfect safety. It will be all right when you get there, as for
as cheese-making is concerned, but if you shut it up and do
not allow that volatile oil to escape, it is there to work mischief.
Only give it a chance, that is all it asks, and it will clear out
of its own accord. I have had milk brought to my factory
five miles, and all I asked of the man was just to make a hole
in the cover, and cover it up in the way I have suggested, and
the milk was better than that which was brought eighty rods
to the factory ; and when I set it for making butter, it made
better butter. I never tried the quantity, to see whether it
produced more or less, but the butter was actually better than
that which came from milk brought only eighty rods ; so near
that the dairyman could bring it in by hand, or on a wheel-
barrow.

Question. What is the cause of bloody milk ?

Mr. Arnold. Some internal injury to the udder. It is a
hurt of some kind, usually.

Mr. Ellsworth. What was your experience in making
butter and cheese from the same milk?

Mr. Arnold. My experience was very favorable, for after
I learned the nature of rennet, how it operated in working
curd into cheese, I took the benefit of what little I knew. I
found I' could make good rich cheese out of skim-milk where
the cream was nearly all taken off, or a large share of it,
because I reasoned that if the rennet did not act as vigorously
when the cream was out, if I increased the quantity and made
the circumstances for it to act more favorably otherwise, I
could still bring on the usual cheesy fermentation. I doubled
the quantity of rennet, when I made skim-milk cheese, and I
kept the room damp in which I cured it, and at from ten to
fifteen degrees higher temperature, and in that way I made
the cheesy fermentation nearly equal to what it was when the
cream was in it.

Question. Is there any way to test the rennet?

Mr. Arnold. No, I do not know that there is any way
that is practical, only by the smell.

Mr. . That is one of the great difficulties that exist

in the manufacture of cheese ; and if you can only dis-

32 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

cover a test of the rennet before you make any use of it, it
will be a discovery of great value to the cheese-making
community.

Mr. Arnold. The way rennet is now prepared, you can-
not make any test ; but it can be prepared so that you can
have a test of its strength. I was going to say, in answer to
your question, further, that I use another stratagem to make
cheese out of skim-milk. In my experience with rennet, I
found that pig's rennet was much more powerful than calf's
rennet. I found it would make skim-milk cheese when calf's
rennet would not do anything with it ; and especially when
lamb's rennet would not do anything with it. I found lamb's
rennet to be inferior to calf's rennet ; I could not do anything
with lamb's rennet ; when I used calf's rennet, I had better
success ; but when I used pig's rennet, I had the best success
of all. I found it had a very powerful effect, and that it
would reduce the curd to cheese when no other rennet would.

Mr. Flint. One of the most common difficulties with
butter in our households is when it becomes tainted and
rancid. What is the best method of remedying that?

Mr. Arnold. Put it where it is so cold that no organic
change can occur.

Mr. Flint. After it becomes tainted, is there any method
of restoring it perfectly ?

Mr. Arnold. Not and keep it butter. You can try it out
and heat it to a boiling heat, and destroy all that effect ; but
you have oleo-margarine when it is done.

Mr. Ellsworth. Would you advise making skim-milk
cheese in April or May ?

Mr. Arnold. No, sir.

Mr. Wetherell. Why not, if you can make it just as
good by putting in tallow?

Mr. Arnold. I suppose Mr. Ellsworth means whole milk
cheese. I would not, because the cheesy matter is harder,
and it cures down with more difficulty. If you skim it, you
increase the difficulty, and it does not get ripe in time. It is
a point with all cheese-makers, usually, to get their spring
cheese off early, so as to get the benefit of high prices. That will
be the case another spring. We have not got cheese enough
to last through the year. The supply will be well-nigh ex-

FOOD AFFECTS QUALITY OF MILK. 33

hausted this winter, which will undoubtedly bring high prices.
If you are making April cheese, you will want to cure it as
quick as you can, and you had better leave the cream all in.
Increase the quantity of rennet, and keep it warm night and
day. You can thus carry on fermentation, and get the ad-
vantage of ripening your cheese quick and well ; but if you
skim the milk, it prolongs the operation, and it is not as well
perfected.

Question. Has the quality of the food given to the cow
any effect upon the quality of the milk you will have by that
cow ; that is to say, does the quality of the food affect the quality
of the milk in its proportions and chemical constituents ?

Mr. Arnold. I think the discussion between the gentle-
man and Mr. Willard ought to answer that question. That
is a mooted question.

Mr. Strong. You have recommended the use of oleo-
margarine for the increase of cheesy fermentation, but yet
you do not mention that you use it yourself. May I ask
why?

Mr. Arnold. I am not making cheese.

Mr. Strong. When you did make cheese, you did not
use it, did you ?

Mr. Arnold. I did not understand it then as clearly as I
do now ; if I had, I should have used it. That is an item of
progress that has grown out of some of our investigations.
We could not get it on the start.

Question. Do you consider rye bran any better than
wheat bran ?

Mr. Arnold. I do not know that I do. Their effects, so
far as I have observed, have been just about the same.

Mr. Wetherell. I understood Mr. Arnold to say that he
could get as good quality of milk from bran as from corn-meal.
I understand that certain German chemists tell us that the
quality of food does not affect the quality of milk, but we
must look to the breeds of cattle. I want to ask Mr. Arnold
if the quality of the food does not affect the quality of the
milk?

Mr. Arnold. The quality of the feed affects the quality
of the elements of milk. By affecting the constitutional con-
ditions of the animal, it may vary, to some extent, the rela-

5

34 BOAED OF AGRICULTURE.

tive proportion of the constituents of milk. But this point
is not settled.

Mr. Fowler. In various parts of the Southern States,
particularly, I have found the custom to prevail of preserving
butter by either exposing it to the sun, and partially melting
the surface of the butter in the vessel in which it is contained,
and then keeping it in a cool place, or exposing it in the
warmest place in the house, and keeping it until just before it
was used in a semi-melted condition. Are we to understand
that those people finally used oleo-margarine, and not butter?
Mr. Arnold. I should think so ; yes, sir.
Mr. Flint. You remarked that in examining the globules
of milk, you had found a large globule containing several
smaller ones. I would like to ask you if you are sure that
it was not a pus-cell, instead of a globule ?

Mr. Arnold. Perfectly sure. There were a number of
large globules in the first sample of milk I ever examined
with a microscope, and it happened that one of them got
broken so that it laid bare perhaps ten or fifteen of those
globules. They were entirely distinct. I could not be mis-
taken. I have found globules corresponding in size in other
milk, but I have never had an opportunity to see one of them
scaled so that I could see the inside of it, and yet not broken
so that the smaller globules would come apart.

Question. You stated that you had been successful in
making both butter and cheese at the factory. What have
been the difficulties, if any?

Mr. Arnold. That covers more ground than I can answer
to-night.

Question. Well, what were the more obvious difficulties?
Mr. Arnold. The first thing I met with was the animal
odor. The next thing I met with was, I did not know the
action of rennet. When I had learned what the action of
rennet was, and when I had learned what animal odor was,
I was enabled to control all the operations as far as cheese-
making was concerned, and in fact, most of the operations
connected with butter-making, because I learned in that
factory that the ferments which caused the changes in butter
and cheese were hurried by the volatile part of the fatty
matter contained in the milk.

COOLING OF MILK. 35

Mr. Leonard, of Westfield. We have just introduced
water iuto our village, and I would like to inquire if a mode
has been ascertained by which that can be best used in our
families, with reference to milk?

Mr. Arnold. The best mode in which I have ever been
able to use water, or have ever seen it used, is to cool the
temperature of the room. I think we can make more butter,
and a better quality of butter, if we cool the milk by standing
it in a cool place, than by cooling it with water, for the
reason that when you apply cold water, water below sixty
degrees, you condense the animal odor ; you make it so solid
that it ceases to evaporate ; it remains in the milk, rises with
the cream, and with the other fatty matter, remains with it,
and is carried into the butter, and works the destruction of
the butter. If you let the air cool it gradually, that odor
will escape, your butter will be purer, and you will have a
better flavored article, and one that will keep better. If I
were going to use water to apply to milk, I should use it to
cool the room.

Mr. Hubbard, of Brimfield. Is it a fact, then, that it is
better not to cool the morning's milk before carrying it to
the factory, but carry it as soon as we can, warm from the
cow?

Mr. Arnold. That depends upon circumstances. It is
better not to cool it if you are going to carry it to the cheese
factory, if you will only ventilate it. It will be in a better
condition when it gets there than if you apply cold water and
cool it down to sixty degrees ; but if you are going to cover
it, and not let the odor escape, you will do better to cool it
down to forty degrees, or as low as you can get it, because it
will stop the formation of the odor, and there will be less of
it if the milk is cool than, if it is hot or warm. But if you
will only give the odor a chance to escape, you may bring me
your milk warm from the cow.

Mr. Hubbard. How about night's milk ?

Mr. Arnold. Under all ordinary circumstances, it is
sufficient to leave that standing open, exposed to the air. In
the experiments which have been made within the past two
years (and there have been a good many made in New York
and elsewhere), it has been found that leaving milk in the

36 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

can, open to the air, with the cover off, is all that is usually
necessary.

Question. Does not the floating cream in the curd, that
is complained of so much, come from that source ; that is,
from the night's milk, the cream having separated in part
from the milk during the twelve hours it has been standing?

Mr. Arnold. It is not cream that floats in those cases ; it
is curd that floats. It does not come from the night's milk,
it comes from the morning's milk. Invariably, the night's
milk will go to the factory in better condition standing open,
and nothing else done to it, than the morning's milk, both of
them being shut up when carried.

Mr. Wetherell. I have seen cream in the vat that was
separated from the milk go off' in the whey.

Mr. Arnold. That is because it was not properly man-
aged. If the cream that rises on the night's milk is turned
into a strainer, and warm milk poured upon it, the warm milk
will carry the cream through the strainer and pulverize it,
and it will then be mixed up, and all those clots disappear.
The clots will do no injury then.

Mr. Root. Perhaps it should be stated that we use a
different can from the New York milk-can. Our cans have
an aperture on top, perhaps not more than three inches in
diameter ; whereas the aperture of the New York can is as
large as the diameter of the can itself. Would that not make
a difference ?

Mr. Arnold. If you left the milk standing in the can
over night, it would make a difference. If you were going
to leave the milk exposed to the night air, it would be much
better to stand with a broad opening at the top than a narrow
one. In carrying it to the factory, it would answer every
purpose to have a small aperture at the top, if you had that
covered with wire cloth. Suppose you make a tube, just the
right size, to enter your can, and go down far enough to stay,
say two inches, and cross it with. wire cloth, and have it extend
up two inches from where the cloth crosses the centre, so that
the air will play in and out just as freely as possible, with a rim
around the top to keep the milk, which is dashed up by the
jolting of the journey, from slopping over, — such a can will
carry milk to the factory well, and it will not take any hurt

MILK FOR THE FACTORY. 37

at all. If there is a three-inch aperture, covered with wire
cloth, so that the ajr can escape, that will be all that is neces-
sary in carrying it to the factory. If the can is not exactly
full, the movement of the milk will crush the globules and
injure the appearance or character of the milk. In riding
long journeys to market it is necessary to fill the can per-
fectly full, and then that decomposition will not take place.

Mr. Ellsworth. Should you think that an aperture of an
eighth of an inch would be sufficient to enable you to carry
warm milk from the cow sately?

Mr. Arnold. A hole of an eighth of an inch would not
do much towards airing six or seven gallons.

Mr. Wetherell. A cheese-maker at one of the best fac-
tories in the Commonwealth told me that last year he had a
large accumulation of butter from the whey after dressing the
cheese, and this year he had not got enough for his own use.
What made the difference in the two seasons, he said he
did not know.

Mr. Arnold. There was some difference in his method of
working, undoubtedly. There may have been a difference in
the food.

Mr. Wetherell. Have you heard of any fact of that
kind before ?

Mr. Arnold. No, sir, I have not heard of anything ex-
actly of that kind : but I know that the quality of milk
changes in the same locality from season to season, so that
the same method of working will not answer the purpose.
There was a very striking change produced in a certain terri-*
tory in Herkimer County, or rather in the edge of Oneida
County, in consequence of which a cheese-maker, after having
had excellent success for two or three years, made a very poor
article the next year, operating in the same way that he had
before. The quality of the milk was changed by the quality
of the food, in consequence of a change of the season. The
pastures were the same, essentially, as they were before.
That is one of the circumstances under which the food changes
the quality of the milk.

Mr. Flint. You stated that you would get the whole of
the cream, whether the milk was set in shallow or deep pans,
and yet in some directions which I saw going the rounds of

38 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

the papers from you, there seemed to be a recommendation
of shallow setting as preferable. I would like to ask you
whether that was authorized by you or not?

Mr. Arnold. Yes, sir, both statements are true. If you
surround the milk with all the circumstances necessary to
make the cream rise, you will get it all. If you give it the
proper temperature, and get what you can, then you may
heat it, as I explained a while ago, and get the remainder.
That is one way in which you can get it. Then, where the
cream does not rise readily, on account of the globules being
too small, you will get it readily. If you can keep your milk
at just sixty degrees, you will, after a time, get the whole of
it ; but it will take a good deal longer in the deep setting than
in the shallow setting on that account. Yet there are circum-
stances where all the cream will be obtained in either case.
You will usually get the whole of the cream, and get it quicker,
in shallow setting than you will in deep setting.

Mr. Flint. Practically, then, in small dairies, it would be
better to set the milk shallow, — not over three inches ?

Mr. Arnold. That is, so far as butter is concerned ; but
the difference would not pay for the difference in the labor,
probably. The statement that it would be better to set milk
in shallow pans might need some qualification, because, though
you might get a little more butter from shallow setting, it
would cost you so much extra labor to get it, in the cleansing
and care of the numerous vessels, that you would be the loser
in the end.

Mr. Ellsworth. "What would the effect be if it was
seventy degrees?

Mr. Arnold. It would not do any material damage.
The cream would rise before the milk would sour, but it
would keep a good deal longer at sixty than at seventy
degrees.

Mr. Ellsworth. It would keep eight-and-forty hours
after it was scalded, at seventy degrees?

Mr. Arnold. Yes, sir, it would keep eight-and-forty
hours at a little higher temperature than that.

Mr. Flint. What is the length of time you would recom-
mend milk to be set to raise cream in ordinary practice ?

Mr. Arnold. Forty-eight hours is long enough.

SETTING MILK FOR CREAM. 39

Mr. Flint. Is it not longer than is usually necessary?

Mr. Arnold. I think it is.

Mr. Flint. Would you not get all the cream that is worth
getting in eighteen or twenty hours, in a suitable tempera-
ture ?

Mr. Arnold. That is so ; in fact, you get about all in that
time. What you get after that time is of poor quality.

Mr. Flint. Not only poorer in itself, but it injures the
cream as a whole ?

Mr. Arnold. Yes, sir.

Mr. Flint. Is it not, then, better, in small dairies, to let
the milk stand eighteen or twenty hours, rather than to let it
stand longer?

Mr. Arnold. I think it would be ; but it does not usually,
at sixty degrees, get ripe enough to churn to the best advan-
tage in that time. In order to churn successfully, milk should
be a little sour.

Mr. Flint. In families that keep but one or two cows,
they cannot churn very often, and the cream, as you know, is
usually set away in jars. Is there any advantage in mixing a
little salt with it, as the cream is added from day to day ?

Mr. Arnold. Yes, sir, there is an advantage in adding
salt, and a little saltpetre, for the reason that both of them
check the growth of ferments, and the changes which would
otherwise be rapid, are kept back, and the cream does not get
over-ripe. It prevents the formation of so much acid as to
take out all the aroma, and it has a tendency to prevent the
formation of alcohol, which will occur in the advanced stages,
and which will also help, as the phrase is, to " eat up the
cream."

Mr. Flint. Would not salt have some effect upon the
butter globules? Would there not be some influence upon
the caseine?

Mr. Arnold. That is very likely so. It is a point that
had not occurred to me, but I can see readily, from the natural
action of salt, which is to absorb moisture, that it would take
the moisture out of the caseine, as it does out of meat, and
make it draw tighter over the globule. Then, when you
come to churn it, the tighter that is the easier it will break.
That is one of the effects of souring. The water separates

40 BOAED OF AGRICULTURE.

from the caseine in the pellicle, and contracts it, and makes it
easy to break. Salt would, undoubtedly, do the same thing,
and it would also check the tendency to souring.

Mr. Flint. Is there any time that you would recommend
that milk should set through the season ?

Mr. Arnold. That will depend upon the circumstances.
If you have it stand at a temperature of forty or fifty degrees,
the cream will be a long while coming up ; but if you have it
at a higher temperature, you will get all that is worth getting
in perhaps twelve hours, under some circumstances, so that
there is no fixed, definite rule for the time of setting. That
must be controlled by the circumstance of temperature, etc.,
under which you set it.

Mr. Ellsworth. That is my experience. I set milk this
season about six inches deep, under favorable circumstances
for making butter, in June, as near what we call good weather
for makiug butter as possible, and made the trial of setting
it thirty-six hours, and then skimmed it, and skimmed it after
twelve hours more. I found that I got from about three hun-
dred pounds of milk, the last twelve hours, two pounds of
butter, and the butter was of very good quality. So that I
hardly think there is any time that can be recommended that
milk should be set. It should be left to the judgment of the
dairyman. In certain weather, you will get it all in thirty-
six hours, perhaps all in twenty-four; but, with mixed milk,
it is more often the case that you will not get it all in eight-
and-forty hours.

Mr. Arnold. And if it was Jersey milk you might get
it all in twelve hours.

Dr. Sturtevant. Did I understand you as saying that
you made butter from the cream of the first skimming, and
also from the second skimming ?

Mr. Ellsworth. I did, sir.

Dr. Sturtevant. What was the quality of the two but-
ters, as compared the one with the other?

Mr. Ellsworth. The last two pounds were very good
butter indeed, but not so good as the first. I have always
been taught and heard that the butter which we got from
cream, after the milk had stood thirty-six-hours, was not
worth making. I have made several experiments, and I find

EFFECT OF AIR ON CREAM. 41

there is more butter in milk after it has stood thirty-six hours,
and very good butter, too.

Mr. Flint. Do you know about the temperature at which
it was set?

Mr. Ellsworth. A very favorable temperature, sixty-two
or sixty-five degrees. I would not be understood that it was
very hot weather, or very cool.

Mr. Lawton. What effect does a current of air have
upon the rising of cream ?

Mr. Arnold. It would not affect the rising of cream
materially, but it would affect the quality of the cream. A
current of air will in a very short time produce a curd. It
will ripen the germs which lie on the top of the cream so that
you will very soon see little specks form, little centres, where
some germ that ripens ahead of the rest will float, and it will
bring the other germs into that condition, just as one apple
rotting in a barrel will make half a dozen others rot around it.

Question. Would it not make the cream rise quicker?

Mr. Arnold. I do not know that it has any effect in that
way.

Question. What makes cream rise so much quicker in
good clear weather than in damp, what we call "sultry"
weather, — or doesn't it?

Mr. Arnold. I do not know that it is so.

Mr. Lawtton. I know that it does. I know that it
rises in a current of clear air quicker, and I get a thicker coat
of cream than in damp, muggy weather. I have noticed it
for forty years. Give me a good clear day, none of your
east winds, or south winds, for good thick cream. I cannot
say what the quality will be; because I never tested that, but
I know I get a good deal more cream. That I have tried,
time after time.

Mr. Arnold. It is possible there may be some influence
of that kind. In "muggy weather," as you term it, the
germs in milk ripen very much faster than they do in clear,
cool weather, and they may ripen so much faster as to thicken
the consistency of the milk a little sooner, and prevent the
cream from coming up. That is possible.

Question. Might it not be that the cows were in better
condition ?

6

42 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Mr. Arnold. That might also make a difference. Very
likely it would.

Mr. Lawton. You may take your milk from cows
that have been through hot weather, and set that milk in a
good clear breeze, and you will find that you have quick
cream. A good clear north-west wind has a good deal to do
with cream.

Mr. Arnold. You would not like to have it blow upon
the milk, would you?

Mr. Lawton. Not exactly upon it, but I like to have
a good supply of air in the room where it is.

Dr. Sturtevant. I will ask if a good clear driving wind
would not thicken the upper surface of the cream, and give
the appearance of a better quality than would be found when
you got down into it?

Mr. Lawton. I understood you to recognize a difference
in the making of butter from milk produced by different
breeds of cows. Do you recognize the same difference in
regard to the making of cheese?

Mr. Arnold. Yes, sir, there is quite a difference.

Question. Will you state what that difference is, in
regard to cheese-making?

Mr. Arnold. Well, cows which give milk that will raise
cream very readily, do not produce as good milk for cheese
as cows which sjive milk on which the cream rises with greater
difficulty. Dr. Sturtevant explained that last year very
admirably, and accounted for it very satisfactorily.

Mr. . That has reference to butter. My question

is in regard to cheese. Do you recognize a difference in the
cheese that is made from the different breeds?

Mr. Arnold. 1 have never made cheese from Jersey cows,
so that I cannot say, but the flavor from the native, and the
flavor from the Devon, are a little different, and the difference
is in favor of the Devon cow. The Devons give a little
richer milk for cheese.

Question. How is it with Durhams ?

Mr. Arnold. Their cheese is not as rich, usually.

Question. How is it with Ayrshires ?

Mr. Arnold. The milk from Ayrshires makes an excellent
\ird. The cream works in always to the best advantage.

SPECKS IN BUTTER. 43

My experience has not been very extensive in that line, but
what little I have had has been very much in favor of the
Ayrshires.

Mr. . In connection with Mr. Ellsworth's state-
ment in regard to churning cream that was obtained by
a second skimming, I would like to give a little of my
experience. Last winter, it happened to be my choice to
make butter a few weeks from milk skimmed quite early,
before the cream had all risen. So much cream came up after
the skimming, that it seemed wasteful to throw it away, and
we collected it, but we did not churn it for perhaps two
weeks. At the expiration of that time, we churned it, in
cold weather, without scalding, — the circumstances all un-
favorable,— and made the poorest butter we ever made.

Mr. Ellsworth. What produces the white specks that
are sometimes found in butter after churning ?

Mr. Arnold. They come from different causes. There
are two causes which seem to produce that result. One is
the dried cream. But it is very seldom that dried cream pro-
duces the specks, for when cream is dry, when you churn it,
unless the butter comes very quickly, churning long enough
to bring the butter will dash those dried particles to pieces ;
they will become soft and mingle with the buttermilk, and
not be in lumps. But sometimes that may not occur ; they
may not be so mixed up but that you see particles of cream
stuck together. The usual cause is the coagulation of little
bits of milk by the action of germs in the milk. In the fall,
when the cows are being dried off, and the milk remains some
time in the bag, those specks are very likely to appear. If
you have a glass vessel, that you can look through, you will
often find them developing in the bottom of the vessel, and
they will curdle a little bit of the milk, and create a gas in it,
and by the fermentation which centres around that spot, it
will become light and work its way up through to the top, and
be found in the cream. At another time, it will develop in
the cream, and coagulate a little bit of milk, and remain
there, and when you come to churn, you will not break them
to pieces. If you will take such milk and scald it, and kill
the germs at the start, the white specks will not appear.

Mr. Ellsworth. I am of the opinion that I can open my

44 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

front window and let a little of this north-west air blow upon
the milk, and produce those white specks every time that I
try it.

Mr. Arnold. That may be. I have had those specks
appear under these circumstances. I have taken two pans of
milk from the same mess and set them side by side, and one
pan would have the specks in it and the other not. I was a
little puzzled to account for them, but, after a while, I found
the light which shone into the window struck one pan and
developed those germs and made the specks ; the develop-
ment was not so rapid in the other pan because it was in the
shade, and the specks never appeared. Then I have had them
appear in one cow's milk and not in another's, when the milk
of both cows was placed just alike, and had an equal chance
in every particular.

Mr. Ellsworth. In your opinion can butter that is made
of cream that has these white specks in it be of the first
quality?

Mr. Arnold. I do not think it can be made so well as if
the specks were not there ; that is, when they come from de-
veloped germs. I do not know that dried cream would injure
it, unless a portion of the dried cream stuck to the butter.

Mr. . As I understand it, they are nothing more

nor less than butter, — they are dried cream.

Mr. Arnold. They are not always dried cream ; some-
times they are particles of curd.

Mr. . I refer to those round specks, about as big

as a pin-head.

Mr. Arnold. Yes, sir, and a little larger than that. They
are floating curd. They may be cream, as I say, in some
cases, but in other cases they are floating curd.

Mr. — . Would not rinsing the butter with clear

water, after the buttermilk is turned off, take them out ?

Mr. Arnold. They do not work into the butter very much.

Question. Does rinsing butter with clear water injure the
quality or flavor of it ?

Mr. Arnold. No, not at all.

Mr. . I would like to ask whether it is not to

be expected that if sour cream is heated, preparatory to
churning, the heat will act so powerfully on the outside of the

HEATING MILK FOR BUTTER. 45

mass, next to the vessel, that it will curdle the milk outside,
unless it is stirred repeatedly and very carefully ?

Mr. Arnold. It avouIcI injure the butter materially. You
cannot heat milk after it is sour without doing injury to the
butter. As long as it is sweet, you can heat it up to the boil-
ing point, as long as it will not respond to the acid test. It
will soften the caseine a little and the butter, but the butter
will be very nice and keep well, if heated to the boiling point,
an}' time when it is sweet. But if you heat when it is sour,
when it will respond to the acid test, you invariably injure it.
Scalded cream churns more easily than cream that is not heated.

Question. How much saltpetre would you use to a gallon
of cream?

Mr. Arnold. I would use sixteen times as much salt as
saltpetre, and put in enough salt to make the cream taste a
little salt. I would not put in a great deal.

Mr. Ellsworth. About two tablespoonfuls to a gallon of
cream ?

Mr. Arnold. I would put in a little more than that. It
would not hurt it, at any rate. I would put in enough salt to
make it taste fairly brackish. That is sufficient to check the
changes.

Question. Would you use saltpetre in cheese-making ?

Mr. Arnold. I never have used but very little of it.
There was no bad effect from it, and no decided effect, any
way. I have heard some cheese-makers say they produced a
better effect when they used saltpetre than when they did not
use it, especially in making skim-milk cheese ; that the curd
was very tender.

Question. What is the best way to preserve rennet?

Mr. Arnold. By drying and exposing to the air, so that
all the odor possible may work out of it.

Question. How is it to be cured and kept?

Mr. Arnold. For practical purposes, it is generally best
to dry it. Blow it up, as you would a bladder, tie the ends,
and salt the ends where it is tied to keep them from tainting.
Do not salt the rest. The changes which occur in it, which
develop rennet, are put back by salt. That is the best way.
The next best way is to salt it very lightly, and stretch on a
crotched stick or a bow, so that it will dry readily. The

46 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

poorest way is to salt it in brine ; to pack it down where it cm
have no access to the air, and where it will be prevented from
making any change.

Mr. Ellsworth. I am acquainted with a factory that has
very good success in making cheese, where they have prac-
tised soaking the quantity of rennet that they wanted to use,
so as to have it just right at the proper time ; but this year,
after this process was all gone through, they have preserved
it in some nice French brandy, and they have succeeded ad-
mirably ; they have had better luck than ever before. What
is your opinion of that course ?

Mr. Arnold. That would be rather an unusual way to
use brandy ; that would have to be a matter of experiment.
I cannot express any opinion upon that without trying the
experiment, because much salt has a tendency to check the
action of rennet, and to prevent the growth of germs in the
rennet skin, and thus prevent the rennet from growing stronger
by age. Old rennets are better than new ; first, because by
exposing to the air, the strong odor of the fresh stomach
passes away ; second, because by being alternately damp and
dry, the germs in it grow and multiply. Preserving in a
pickle is the poorest way to preserve them, because, first, the
odor has no chance to escape ; and, second, because there is
no chance for germ development.

Question. What would be the effect upon the cheese from
putting brandy in the vessel where rennets are soaking?

Mr. Arnold. I cannot say. I have never used it in that
way. It is an antiseptic, and destructive to some ferments.
What effect it would have upon rennet-germs or upon cheese,
I could not, without an experiment, predict, for this reason :
that some things that will check some ferments will not check
others. Carbolic acid will check almost all ferments. A
very large number of ferments are destroyed by a small quan-
tity of carbolic acid. It does not affect rennet at all ; and
nobody can tell, without trying, what effect an antiseptic
would have upon any particular kind of ferment. Brandy is
an antiseptic, so far as most kinds of ferments are concerned.
Putrefactive ferments are checked by the presence of brandy
very effectually ; whether it would affect the rennet-germ, I
cannot tell without trying.

CHARLESTON PHOSPHATE BEDS. 47

Question. I would like to ask why one cow gives better
milk than another with the same food?

Mr. Arnold. That is, perhaps, owing to the breed.

Adjourned.

SECOND DAY.

The Board met at ten o'clock, and Hon. George B. Lor-
ing was called to the Chair. He announced the first subject
on the programme as a paper on

THE PHOSPHATE BEDS OF THE CHARLESTON BASIN.

BY CHARLES L. FLINT.

Within the last half century, thousands of analyses have
been made in Europe and this country, of plants, of soils, of
fertilizers or substances which appear to constitute what may
be called the food of plants, till the laws of vegetable growth
are tolerably well understood. These analyses go to show, that
of the sixty-five elements which constitute the surface of our
globe, only a few are essential to plant-growth, but that these
are, within certain limits, absolutely indispensable, every
known plant being more or less dependent on them for its
sustenance.

These elements, so essential to plant-growth, are carbon,
hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen, derived either directly or
indirectly from the atmosphere ; and calcium, chlorine, iron,
magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, silicon, sodium and sul-
phur, derived from the soil. A few others may sometimes be
fouud in the composition of plants, but their presence seems
to be rather accidental than essential to the healthy growth of
vegetable life. The percentage in which these elements are
found in different plants may vary widely indeed, but this
difference is one of degree, and not of kind, since all plants
require these elements to be present in the soil in quantities
sufficient for their wants.

But it is also true that some of these indispensable elements
are to be found in all soils in sufficient abundance, and that
only a few of them are removed in such quantities as to
require to be artificially supplied. Without entering minutely

48 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

into this line of investigation, it is enough to say that most of
our cultivated crops require potassium and phosphorus, or
phosphate of lime, in much greater quantities than many
other elements, and hence their cultivation involves the
natural exhaustion of these important elements and the
necessity of supplying them wherever they are, or become,
deficient.

The modern use of concentrated fertilizers has grown up
chiefly from this necessity. It was met, to a certain extent, in
the use of Peruvian and other guanos, rich in phosphoric
acid. The value of these articles was based largely on the
amount of soluble phosphates they contained, and this is the
case also with the more common fertilizers sold under the
name of superphosphates, a technical term applied to phos-
phoric acid when it appears in a form soluble in water. A
common phosphoric acid, as is well known in chemistry, is a
tri-basic acid ; that is, its atoms unite with three atoms or
molecules of some substance as a base, such as lime. In
bones, the base is always lime. But if two parts or atoms of
lime can be taken out and their place substituted by water,
we have the phosphoric acid and the lime in a form soluble
in water, and this is superphosphate. The phosphoric acid in
bones, being united with lime, is insoluble in water, but if
the bones are treated with sulphuric acid, or the common oil
of vitriol of commerce, the sulphuric acid will take from the
bones two-thirds of the lime, and water will take its place,
when the mass is brought into a soluble condition. The sul-
phuric acid which has effected this change, will unite with the
lime which it has thus removed from the bones, and form
sulphate of lime or gypsum, commonly known as plaster,
and this latter is always a constituent of true superphosphates,
made in this way.

Now guano was rich in soluble phosphoric acid. The
rainless islands, on the coast of Peru, had preserved it age
after age, till its value as a fertilizer was recognized, when its
use became general all over the civilized world. Scientific
men had called attention to the richness of the deposits on the
Peruvian islands, and in 1840, twenty casks were taken to
England for trial, with such surprising results that the impor-
tation increased to 2,000 tons in 1841, and to over 200,000

PERUVIAN, GUANO. 49

in 1845, the English trade alone requiring in that year no less
than 679 vessels. In less than sixteen years from 1840, the
quantity taken from the Chineha Islands alone, reached the
enormous figure of 2,000,000 tons, and the sales in that
time amounted to over $100,000,000. Nor were we much
behind England in the extent of our importations of this
precious fertilizer. In the ten years previous to 1860, we
imported and used very nearly 1,000,000 tons, and in the
ten years following, when the South was cut off from its use,
we paid about $6,000,000 for guano.

But such enormous exportations could not last indefinitely.
Extensive as those valuable deposits were, they were not
inexhaustible. It became evident, some years since, that the
enterprising farmer in this and other countries would soon be
compelled to seek elsewhere for the means of keeping up and
increasing the productiveness of his soil. Scientific and
practical men looked forward with a feeling of anxiety,
almost of alarm, to the time when the supplies of guano
should cease, and this source of dependence be cut off. Then
came the wonderful discovery of the value of the immense
phosphate beds of the Charleston basin, and opened to us the
prospect of a vast mine of commercial and agricultural
wealth, the extent and importance of which' we can hardly
realize.

The geological position of these phosphatic strata had long
been known to scientific men, and the presence of the rocks
appears to have been a source of trouble to planters in some
localities from the first attempts at cultivation, cropping out
here and there upon the surface in the form of nodules, or
" rocks," varying in size from that of a hen's egg to that of a
man's head. When the stratum approached the surface it
impeded the plough in the processes of cultivation, and the
nodules were not unfrequently picked up and carted off to get
them out of the way, just as we dispose of the loose rocks on
our hillsides, without the slightest idea of their value. I am
not aware that any accurate analysis had been made to ascer-
tain their chemical composition till 1867, though Prof. C. U.
Shepard, of the South Carolina Medical College at Charleston,
appears to have known something of their value as early as
1860, for in that year he made arrangements to manipulate these
7

50 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

deposits in company with Col. Hatch, and with every pros-
pect of success, when the outbreak of the Rebellion put a stop
to operations. But it was known that the underlying marl
was unusually rich in phosphate, sufficiently so to make it
compare favorably with the New Jersey marl, and to estab-
lish it as a valuable fertilizer.

As early as 1842, Edmund Ruffin, of Virginia, was appointed
to make a scientific survey of South Carolina, for the purpose
of developing its mineral resources. At that time the public
attention was fixed upon marl as the great regenerator of the
soil, and as the nodules of phosphate rock were found to con-
tain only a small amount of carbonate of lime, they were
passed by as worthless. Even those who suspected some
hidden value in these rocks, and had taken pains to pound
them up to spread over the land, were discouraged from
doing so. This is not, perhaps, to be wondered at, when it
is considered that artificial fertilizers, superphosphates and
guano, were at that time comparatively little known in this
country. The leading idea was to develop the immense beds
of calcareous marl that were known to exist in South Caro-
lina and Georgia.

The carbonate of lime, though possessing some agricult-
ural value, is comparatively inert. Marl is a compound of
earthy mixtures, of which carbonate of lime in any form con-
stitutes either the sole or the chief value as a manure. To
be of much value it must be rich in carbonate of lime and
sufficiently soft to be excavated or broken down by ordinary
digging utensils. It is usually formed of the shells of mol-
lusks and other marine animals of a former age, broken
down or finely comminuted by the action of the elements
and natural causes, and often cemented by clay, or closely
compacted and hardened by the presence of superincumbent
masses of earth, the action of water or otherwise. It usually
contains numerous fossils. Most marl-beds are fossiliferous.

Immense marl-beds underlie the layer of phosphate rocks
throughout the whole South Carolina basin, averaging in the
aggregate about seven hundred feet or more. These beds
belong to what may be called recent geological formations,
though the different strata differ in age. First below the
phosphate rock, and separated from it only by a thin layer or

THE UNDERLYING MARLS. 51

irregular stratum of loose, gravelly sand only about eight inches
in thickness, and containing many bones and fish-teeth, lies
what is called the Ashley marl-bed, about two hundred and
sixty feet in thickness, as appeared in boring for the artesian
well at Charleston, containing about seventy per cent, of car-
bonate of lime, the upper surface also containing on an aver-
age about ten per cent, of phosphate of lime, received by
infiltration from the overlying beds of phosphate rock ; and
then comes the Cooper River marl-bed, deposited, of course,
previous to the Ashley marl, and greater in age, though of
the same geological formation, and filled with vast numbers
of hard-shelled mollusca, like the clam and oyster. Its com-
position is essentially the same, though it is firmer in texture
and lighter in color. Both these strata are rich in the re-
mains of fish, especially of the shark family, and contain
numerous bones and teeth of cetacean or whale-like animals,
many of which were larger than the whales still found in the
ocean.

Beneath the Cooper marl-bed still lies another stratum of
marl, known as the Santee bed, deposited at a still earlier
period, and composed chiefly of hard shells, corals and coral-
lines. This marl is white when dried. The coralline por-
tions of this bed contain ninety-four per cent, of carbonate of
lime, though there are layers in it of green sand-marl which
contain only about twenty-five per cent, of carbonate of lime,
with a considerable percentage of potash. This Santee marl
contains also gigantic oyster-shells of two very distinctly-
marked species, one of which is sometimes twenty-three
inches in length, two and half inches wide and three inches
thick at the hinge. Each shell of the other species weighs
five or six pounds, and is usually as wide as it is long, and as
thick as it is broad. It is a most wonderful shell-bed, extend-
ing from the Santee to the Savannah rivers.

The aggregate thickness of these strata, the Ashley, Cooper
and Santee marls, is something like seven hundred feet. They
all belong to the tertiary period, though differing in age.
They have been called the eocene marls, — a term used in
geology to denote the dawning of the present epoch. The
fossils found in them belong to species of animals not now
living, but extinct. Still below these eocene marls of the

52 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

tertiary period lies another stratum, belonging to the second-
ary formation, called the cretaceous or Pedee River marl-
bed, bearing fossils which belong to the chalk period of Europe,
but poorer in carbonate of lime. On the Pedee River it
crops out near the surface, but in boring the Charleston arte-
sian well it was struck at eight hundred feet below the
surface.

This casual glance at the geological features of this remark-
able region will serve to throw light upon the wonderful de-
posits which we are about to consider, and to establish the
fact that, in addition to the phosphatic strata, the most valu-
able of all, this is one of the most extensive and richest
marl-beds in the world ; and when it is understood that these
vast deposits of marl are made up entirely of the broken
shells of marine animals, living and dying age after age,
through the long succession of centuries, every single species
of which is now wholly extinct, and that with these dead and
cast-off shells, ground up by the action of water and depos-
ited on the bottom of the ocean, inclosing throughout their
great depths of corals and corallines myriads of teeth, and
bones, and vertebras of sharks and other monsters like whales
and alligators, that lived in former geological periods, we
shall wonder all the more at the mysteries of the creation in
storing up, through the slow lapse of time, the means of sup-
porting the forms of a higher life which were to come in the
development of a wise and beneficent plan.

Leaving Charleston for the trip up the Ashley River, the
phosphate strata are seen to crop out near the surface some
six or seven miles above the city, and above that point for
ten or fifteen miles or more. In fact, the whole Ashley basin
appears to be underlaid with this stratum at a short distance
below the surface, and the same may be said of the Cooper,
the Wan do, the Stono, the Edisto, and other river-basins,
though in some sections the stratum of phosphate rocks lies
deeper than in others. The whole region has been appropri-
ately called the Charleston basin, extending seventy-five to
eighty miles from north to south, and something like fifty or
sixty miles in width — an area of from three to four thousand
square miles — nearly equal to half the area of the whole State
of Massachusetts.

THE PHOSPHATE NODULES. 53

The land along up the Ashley is rolling, with low bluffs
coming down to the river and lying at right angles to it, rising
perhaps from twenty to forty feet high. Between these bluffs
lie swamps, through many of which canals have been dug,
originally for the purpose of drainage and the culture of
cotton. On these low lands the top soil, generally rich, is
from four to six inches deep, below which comes a layer of
sand from six inches to a foot and a half in depth, and below
this sand comes the layer of phosphate nodules, packed quite
closely together and imbedded in more or less clay and mud,
which holds them so firmly that they are picked out with the
common pick. These nodular rocks vary in size from that
of a hen's egg to that of a man's head. They are very irreg-
ular in shape, rounded, water-worn, cavernous, as if bored
by the teredo or other marine mollusks. They are hard,
compact, rock-like, often brown in color, and heavy, though
the consistency and weight differ greatly, some specimens
being much softer and lighter than others. (Many specimens
were here shown to give an idea of the shapes, the size and
character of the nodules.) If a specimen is broken, and the
two surfaces are rubbed together, a strong organic odor is very
perceptible, and this is so characteristic as to be a common
mode of detecting the phosphates throughout this region, both
in the hard and the soft varieties and in dry and wet speci-
mens.

On the bluffs the layer of sand lying just beneath the thin
surface-soil is generally thicker or deeper than in the hollows
or lower lands, and the stratum of phosphate rocks lies conse-
quently deeper. The phosphate layer varies in thickness from
six inches to a foot and a half or two feet, sometimes to three
feet, though this is greater than the average. Where the
strata average fifteen to eighteen inches in thickness the quan-
tity yielded per acre is very large, in some cases thirteen
hundred tons or more, to say nothing of the large amount
wasted, the smaller lumps being entirely neglected. Six
hundred to a thousand tons per acre is not an uncommon
yield.

It has been estimated, taking the extent of the deposit
where it is already known to exist and the general average
yield per acre, that there must be not less than sixteen hun-

54 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

dred millions of tons of this valuable phosphate rock lying
there untouched, to say nothing of the vast number of tons
that have been ground up by the action of the elements
through untold ages, and filtered down through the underly-
ing strata of marl, as appears evident from the large percent-
age of phosphoric acid — from six to ten per cent. — in the
composition of the upper strata of this marl. The supply is,
therefore, practically inexhaustible, and so rich in phosphate
of lime as to furnish a basis for the manufacture of super-
phosphate, even better than fresh bones.

It will readily be understood, from the descripton of these
phosphatic strata, that the process of mining is very simple
and comparatively easy. A trench is dug and the nodules
picked out or loosened with a common pick ; in this crude
form, covered with the mud and clay adhering to them, they
are thrown into a cart or upon simple tramway or dump-cars,
and run to the bank of the river, where they are thrown into
large revolving cylinders and washed with a stream of water
poured upon them, and so freed from the clay and mud at-
tached to them, when they are ready to be ground. Any vessel
that can cross the Charleston bar can go up the river and load
along the banks. I saw thousands of tons of these phosphate
rocks that had been dug out, washed and piled up along the
river-banks ready for shipment. In this crude form they are
estimated at about seven or eight dollars per ton.

The stratum of phosphate rock underlies the river-beds, as
well as the adjacent lands, though it may not be so uniform
in thickness, owing to the action of the currents. The negro,
who does not take particularly to the pick and spade, began
to fish for the rock with a rude kind of grapnel or tongs, and
he could raise enough in a day to supply his simple wants,
even in this rude way. This suggested a more complete sys-
tem of operations, and led to the formation of a company
called the "River and Marine Mining Company," chartered by
the legislature, with an exclusive right to take the rock from
beneath the waters of the State for twenty years, paying a
royalty of a dollar a ton into the state treasury. After great
expenditures in experimenting, they have powerful machinery,
worked by steam, in successful operation, and capable of rais-
ing and washing several hundred tons a day. The process is

THE PKOCESS OF MINING. 55

simple and effective. On the Stono River, about fifteen miles
from Charleston, the company uses four flat-boats, of about
a hundred tons each, lashed together side by side, and moored,
so that the position of each can be readily changed. The
boat on the right carries the coal for use in the engines, and
when the load is used up this boat is carried around to the
other side to receive the rock. The next boat carries the
engine and the apparatus used to operate the steam-shovel or
dredge, which takes up from the bed of the river and deposits
in the third boat something like three cubic feet of the phos-
phate rock, clay, mud and sand at each dip. On the third
boat there is a small steam-engine also, for operating a force-
pump, to be used in raising water for washing the material,
which is dumped into two hoppers alternately, where a con-
stant stream of water is poured upon it, which washes it com-
pletely, when it is deposited on the next boat as fast as two
men can shovel it away. In this way fifteen hands can raise
and clean from seventy-five to a hundred tons a day of ten
hours. The same company has another establishment near
by, and still another on the Bull River, about forty miles from
Charleston, said to be capable of preparing for market several
hundred tons a day. Here the rock is in a continuous and
unbroken layer, which has to be crushed before it is
washed.

When the value of the material first became known, lands
in the vicinity of Charleston were held at a very low figure.
Everything was prostrate there, and lands could be bought
in any quantity at from two dollars to ten dollars an acre.
Enterprising fertilizer manufacturers, who foresaw their oppor-
tunity, soon purchased largely, and the price very rapidly
advanced. A plantation, owned by a widow, that had been
valued before this at about six thousand dollars, was bought by
the Charleston Mining and Manufacturing Company for forty-
five thousand dollars, and was afterwards estimated to be worth
five hundred thousand dollars, and sales were made to other
parties at a thousand dollars per acre. It therefore became
an object of importance to secure the rich deposits in the beds
of the rivers.

As to the composition of the phosphate rock and its com-
parison with bone phosphate of lime, it may serve to explain

56

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

it to state that the average of mixed bone, such as is com-
monly used in the manufacture of fertilizers, will possess

about the following ingredients

Phosphate of lime
Carbonate of lime
Organic matter,
Sand, .
Water,
Other matter,

40.28
5.32
30.14
11.80
10.50
1.96

100.00

Now if we suppose the organic matter and the water taken
out by decomposition, putrefaction or otherwise, we have left
59.36 parts, and 40.28 parts will still be pure bone phosphate
of lime, and this is 67.87 per cent., and that agrees pretty
nearly with the average composition of this Charleston phos-
phate, which is often sold by the cargo to average 65 per
cent. Or if we take the hard, solid bone of an ox and
subject it to analysis, we shall find, —

Phosphate of lime,
Carbonate of lime,
Organic matter and water,

61.24

8.60

30.16

100.00

If we remove, say 28 parts, of the organic matter, and the
water from this bone, we have left, —

Phosphate of lime,
Carbonate of lime,
Organic matter and water,

61.24
8.60
2.16

72.00

Now, of this 72 parts of the residue, 61.24 or 85.05 per
cent, will be pure bone phosphate of lime. This will serve, in
part, to explain the composition of the phosphate rock, if we
should adopt the theory of some scientific men, that the

ORIGIN OF THE DEPOSIT. 57

deposit is wholly of animal origin. Though insoluble in
water, so much so that if ground fine in the form of bone-
meal and applied to growing crops, it will appear to have no
perceptible effect, yet it is readily soluble in dilute acids, so
that as it is nearly free from phosphate of iron and alumina,
and contains but a very low percentage of carbonate of lime,
it offers one of the best materials in the world for the manu-
facture of superphosphates, inexhaustible in quantity, supe-
rior in quality even to fresh bones, and easily and cheaply
accessible.

Various theories have been formed to account for the origin
of this vast deposit, which bids fair to be so important, not
ouly to the agriculture, but also to the commerce of the
country. Some maintain, as I have already intimated, that
the phosphate "rock" is of bone or animal origin, and that
the presence of large numbers of fossil-bones of marine and
of terrestrial animals found imbedded in and intermingled
with these deposits, is conclusive evidence of this. They
assert, that under a microscope of a high p©wer, the cellular
structure of the bones becomes apparent, increased somewhat
in compactness and weight by some kind of internal aggrega-
tion or condensation of phosphate of lime, and that no trace
of mineral phosphate of lime has ever been discovered in
them. It can hardly be maintained that they are petrifac-
tions, since they are almost entirely free from silex, and
actually contain often as much as 85 per cent, of pure bone
phosphate of lime, which seems to give color to this. theory.
Those who take this view say that, prepared in a thin section
on a slide of the microscope, they can be distinguished from
fresh bone only by their darker color, and by the compression
or compacting of the cellular structure already alluded to.

To account for the presence of such vast and incredible
quantities of bone, stored up and preserved for so many ages
for the use of man in these later stages of civilization, they
assert, what is undoubtedly true, that there was a time in
comparatively recent geological ages, when the whole of the
peninsula of Florida was submerged, as well as the whole
low coast-line of Georgia and South Carolina, when the Gulf
Stream, instead of circling, as it does now, around the great,
sharp curve of the Florida reefs, poured its warm and majestic

58 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

current by a shorter line to the shores of what is now the
Carolinas, not then elevated above the sea-level, but shallow
and but slightly covered, over a vast extent, constantly and
gradually rising from natural causes, and the accumulation of
sands driven in from greater depths of the ocean. Such a
shelving shore offered every facility for the growth of coral
animals, which in their myriad forms, flourished in the genial
waters. They maintain that the outward or seaward growth
of these animals was limited by the increasing depth, beyond
which they cannot live, so that their structures grew upwards
towards the surface, forming walls or reefs, inclosing behind
them a vast shoal, lagoon or inland sea, in which swarmed
thousands of species of marine animals. Into this inland sea,
the weaker species would naturally resort for safety, and the
stronger for prey, while over the reefs, which were, of course,
ages in forming, the remains of innumerable monsters of the
deep would be hurled by the waves and by every great con-
vulsion of the ocean. Such a place would be the natural
resort of land animals of many kinds, and birds of prey,
through many thousand years. It became the great burial-
place for the monsters of the sea and the land.

This theory, though it appeals somewhat boldly to the
imagination, may not be so very extravagant, after all, when
we consider the great periods of time through which these
vast accumulations must have been formed. It is said that,
some years ago, a company of scientific men visited Turner's
Falls, Massachusetts, to examine the geological features of
that remarkable locality, when some one asked the learned
leader of the party, the late Dr. Hitchcock, how old he sup-
posed a certain specimen of track-bearing shale, full of the
unmistakable tracks or foot-prints of birds, might be. He
replied that he could not tell exactly, but it was so old that a
hundred thousand years either way could be of no sort of
account. And it is said that Prof. Agassiz, after studying
carefully the process of building or accumulating the reefs on
the coast of Florida, gave it as his opinion that the peninsula
of Florida must have been at least a hundred and thirty-five*
thousand years in forming up to its present elevation, even now
scarcely raised above the level of the surrounding ocean ;
while another scientific man, of very high authority, estimates

PKE-HISTORIC TIMES. 59

that the period of growth and upheaval could not have been less
than 5,400,000 years. This may seem incredibly long to our
short-sighted vision, but time is the earth's attribute ; she does
things leisurely. To us she renews her charming drapery of
foliage and flowers, year after year, while during the long
lapse of ages she reconstitutes seas and continents, building
up here and depressing there, changing everywhere and every-
where in motion, since motion itself is the first condition of
vitality.

It may give some plausibility to this theory to consider that
the waters, as well as the land of that warm, semi-tropical
climate are, even to this day, incredibly full of animal life.
In the upper waters of the St. John's, where the destroying
hand of civilization has left less of its blight than is percep-
tible further north, the sluggish streams are literally swarm-
ing with fishes, and with an infinite variety of animal life ;
and we know that even so late as the time of the advent of
white men on this continent, such was the condition of the
waters even in much higher latitudes ; while it is clear, from
the numerous fossil-bones and teeth found among the phosphate
deposits and elsewhere, that a vast number of species of ter-
restrial monsters, long since extinct, — like the mammoth, the
mastodon, the rhinoceros, the dinotherium, the haclrosaurus,
and other gigantic saurians and their associates, — roamed the
southern forests and filled the lagoons, and it is by no means
inconceivable that they should have congregated in a reo-ion
so abounding in vegetable life, and have left their remains in
such a burial-place.

But there is another theory that seems to explain the facts
more rationally, and to rest on more conclusive evidence. I
do not know that I shall be able to make it clear without the
aid of diagrams. I have not been able to discover the appear-
ance of cellular structure in these specimens of phosphate
rocks, and recently I requested Prof. Charles A. Goessmann
to examine them with the higher powers of his excellent
microscope with special reference to this point, and he reports
that the structure is clearly granular, and that he can discover
no evidence of bone-cells, nor any similarity to bony struct-
ure. That would seem to be pretty conclusive evidence
against the theory which I have already attempted to explain.

60 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Professor Francis S. Holmes, of Charleston, to whom is
due very much of the credit of discovering and developing
this wonderful deposit to its present almost gigantic propor-
tions, has given special study to this subject under very favor-
able circumstances, and comes to the conclusion that it was
never bone, that it was rather of a marine than of a mineral
origin, and he maintains that all the remains of land animals
which have been found in connection with the phosphate rocks
were merely mingled with, and not imbedded in, the nodules
in the phosphate basins.

Let us bear iu mind what has already been said of the great
eocene marl-beds, or the great Carolinian bed of marl, lying
below the phosphate strata, and which is, as Prof. Holmes calls
it, "the foundation of the whole seaboard country of South Caro-
lina, composed of the Santee, Cooper and Ashley River marls,
extending from North Carolina into Georgia. Before the low
country of South Carolina was raised above the level of the
ocean, the waves of the Atlantic beat upon the granite hills of
Edgefield, Lexington and Richland, as far inland as Columbia.
The shallow water of the coast, with its submarine formation
of sand-banks, was then, as now, resting on this surface of
the great marl formation, of the eocene age. Both were below
the level of the ocean, exposed to the degrading influence of
the waves, and bored by mollusca and other marine animals ;
that is, the upper surface of the marl-bed was washed into
deep cavities and holes bored by these animals, and honey-
combed to the depth of five or six feet. This is its condition
off Charleston harbor at the present time, and, wherever the
surface of the bed inland has been uncovered, it is found
irregular and broken. From the coarsely honey-combed sur-
face of this mother-bed fragments were being continually
broken off by the waves, rolled over the sand-beds, which
wore off their angular edges, and finally deposited them in
immense masses in the great hollows or basins below the ocean
level. It did not require a very long time nor much friction
to reduce these comparatively soft lumps of marl rock to the
rounded or nodular forms they now have. Every gale drove
them further and further upon the submarine beach, until, at
last, they were deposited in the lagoons or basins formed within
the sand-reach of the coast. The next great change was the

EVIDENCES OF MARINE ORIGIN. 61

upheaval of the whole seaboard country by some geological
agency, and the elevation of the coast above the level of the
ocean. When the sand-hills and the submarine lagoons were
raised, the basins contained sea or salt water, and must have
been so many small salt lakes along the sea-coast, having their
bottoms covered or paved with a thin layer of the nodular
fragments of marl rock. As the evaporation of the salt water
progressed, what was left became, day after day, a stronger
brine, until at last a deposit of salt ultimately formed as a
crust upon the pavement of marl rock." It is easy to under-
stand that there must have been vast numbers of these basins,
extending over a vast area, lying at irregular intervals, and
as irregular in shape as the ponds and lakes scattered over
the face of the country at the present time.

It is a curious fact, and affords striking confirmation of
this theory of the origin of these nodules, that they are com-
posed, like the mother-rock from which we have seen that
they were broken off, of the dead shells of marine animals.
So far as the mechanical structure of these specimens of the
phosphate rocks is concerned, it is wonderfully similar to that
of the marl-bed, and nearly every sample is filled, not merely
with the broken fragments of marine shells and coral animals,
but with innumerable perfect casts of fossilized shells, perfectly
apparent to the naked eye. The nodules also, like the mother-
bed of eocene marl, contain the teeth and bones of sharks,
whale-like and alligator-like animals, such as lived in the sea,
absolutely inclosed and imbedded in them, but no remains of
land animals are so inclosed and imbedded in the nodules
found in these phosphate basins. The remains of laud ani-
mals are found in great quantities, mingled with but not shut
or inclosed in the nodules, showing that they found their Avay
among: them after the elevation of the basins above the ocean
level.

I have already alluded to the great number of species of
gigantic quadrupeds, now wholly extinct, that are known to
have existed and abounded in those regions, and Prof. Holmes
supposes that these terrestrial monsters "repaired periodically
to these salt lakes or lagoons, or, as they are called in Ken-
tucky, 'salt-licks,' and, during a series of indefinite ages,
engaged as they were, first sipping brine, then licking salt,

62 BOAKD OF AGRICULTURE.

and depositing their fecal remains, and ultimately their bones
and teeth, — in fact, their dead bodies, — in these great open
crawls or pens." This explains how it happens that the re-
mains of these land animals are merely mechanically mingled
with and not imbedded in the phosphate nodules.

But these fragments or nodules, broken off from the great
eocene marl-bed, rounded by the waves, and thrown by the
action of ocean storms into these great basins, were in the
form of carbonate of lime, like the mother-bed from which
they were detached. They remained almost pure carbonate
of lime, undoubtedly, long after the gradual and slow eleva-
tion or upheaval of the surface of the shallow coast. How
happens it, then, it may be asked, that they became phos-
phatic? What became of the carbonate of lime, and what
was the process of conversion ?

Let us remember that these marl nodules, after the
upheaval or elevation of the surface, were lying age after age
in basius covered up with the accumulating fecal remains,
bones and carcases of land animals. In other words, they
were covered by deposits very rich in phosphoric acid. The
process of conversion of the carbonates into phosphates was
probably very analogous to that of petrifaction. We know
that if a piece of wood or other organic substance is long buried
or imbedded in clay, it is gradually changed into lignite, but
if it is buried in sand it will, under certain conditions, be
entirely silicified, or changed into silex or pure flintstone.
The organic matter will disappear, particle by particle, and
silica, in solution, will take its place. Heated water, if it
holds carbonic acid or an alkali in solution, will dissolve silica,
and this solution will percolate through the mass surrounding
the wood or other organic matter, and thus, atom by atom,
the silica is substituted in place of such organic matter, and
the exact form and outline, to the very innermost cell, will
be preserved, simply because the process is slow and takes
place only particle by particle. I have a fine specimen of
petrified wood from the desert at some distance out from
Cairo, in Egypt, where there is said to be a whole petrified
forest, in which the petrifaction is so perfect that the layers
of annual growth in the wood can be distinctly counted.
The whole is now a mass of pure silex.

PROCESS OF PETRIFACTION. 63

The same is true of shells imbedded in sand. The carbon-
ate of lime will gradually dissolve, and the silica held in
solution, will slowly, atom by atom, take its place, and we
have a petrified shell that has completely lost its original
carbonate of lime, and become perfectly silicified, though its
form and outline remain the same as it grew. And so where
the nodules were buried in sand, as they were in some portion
of the Santee marl-beds, as we see them about Aiken, they
were changed into buhrstone, or beds of silicious shells,
having lost every particle of their original composition as a
carbonate of lime, and become so solid and hard as to make
the best of millstone, for which this rock is often used. The
buhrstones imported from France, and used as millstones,
are precisely similar. But these nodules, instead of being
imbedded in and covered with sand, in which case they would
have changed into a hard silicious rock, were buried with a
great mass, consisting of the fecal and other phosphatic
remains of animals. As their carbonate of lime was, atom
by atom, dissolved out, its place was taken by the phosphoric
acid filtering down from above, and this process, going on
slowly age after age, the whole mass was changed into a
phosphate instead of a carbonate of lime. And thus we find,
in this wonderful laboratory of nature, a vast and almost
incredible store of material, which, by a simple and easy
process of manipulation, can be readily converted into the
food of plants, so useful to man and the domestic animals
subservient to his purposes in the attainment of the highest
forms of civilization and culture.

If this theory of the history of the phosphate rocks is
correct, it still follows that they were of animal origin, though
not in the form of bones. The marl itself may be said to be
of animal origin, having been deposited by marine shell-fish,
which, in a myriad of forms, swarmed in the warm and
genial waters poured along over this shallow sea by the Gulf
Stream. In fact, the city of Charleston itself "is built upon
a bed of animalcules several hundred feet in thickness, every
cubic inch of which is filled with myriads of perfectly pre-
served microscopic shells." To the naked eye, the strata of
marl underlying the city may appear like some variety of
common earth, but the microscope reveals the fact that the

64 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

whole mass once existed in the most numerous and the most
beautiful forms of animal life.

The development of these deposits has been rapid since
18G7. It is said that $6,000,000 had been invested in this
industry as early as four or five years ago, and this amount
must have been greatly increased since that time. The ship-
ments amounted in 1871 to 27,355 tons, and in the first six
months of 1872 to 30,646 tons. It is stated that over 200,-
000 tons had been shipped previous to July 1st, 1872, valued
at $1,450,000. Of the amount, 90,000 tons had been shipped
to foreign, and 116,000 tons to northern ports. As sulphuric
acid is required to render the material easily soluble, it was
important to secure liberal supplies of it for use in the large
manufactories in and about Charleston, and this is also made
there in great quantities. Previous to July, 1872, no less
than 10,614 tons are reported as having been manufactured
there, and the facilities for pursuing this industry are among
the most extensive and complete to be found in this coun-
try.

This wonderful discovery, taken in connection with that of
inexhaustible supplies of potash recently brought to light at
the Stassfurth Potash Salt Mines, in Prussia, must be regarded
as of vast importance to the agriculture as well as to the com-
merce of this country, and as one of the hopeful and encourag-
ing signs of the future growth and development of our material
resources.

Col. Wilder. I have visited the phosphate beds at Charles-
ton, to which Mr. Flint has referred, and I agree with him
entirely in regard to the immense importance of those de-
posits. We have not yet had sufficient experience to be able
to say how they can be used to the best advantage by the
farmer ; but that these phosphates do contain the rich material
that Mr. Flint has told you of, there can be no doubt. There
can be no dishonesty at all in the analyses that have been
made, which show the richness of those beds, and their im-
portance to the present generation and to future ages. I
visited, in 1870, one of the factories at Charleston, where
superphosphate was manufactured, so as to make this mate-
rial immediately valuable to the farmer. At that time, this

USE AS A FERTILIZER. 65

superphosphate was made something after this maimer : There
were four hundred pounds of dried meats, which were pro-
cured from Chicago for nitrogenous purposes, two hundred
pounds of guano, some potash, and the balance consisted of
these phosphates, which had been rendered serviceable by the
use of sulphuric acid. That superphosphate was sold at forty-
five dollars per ton. All who have used this fertilizer attest
its wonderful effect, and especially upon the cotton crop of
the South, which you all know has increased very much
within the last few years. Without this fertilizer those lands
would have become, most of them, almost absolutely sterile.
This article is used more largely at the South, where they
know more about it by every-day trial, than anywhere else,
and I think that is sufficient proof of the richness of this
material ; but whether we have arrived at its best fruits or
not, I am unable to say.

Pardon me one word in regard to the wonderful care of
Providence, which provides for us in all those extremities to
which the human race is subject. Take, for instance, the
fact that when our country had become almost denuded of its
forests, He unbosomed the mountains and furnished us with
coal to make us comfortable. Take, for instance, the fact,
that when the whale had become almost extinct, He opened
the bowels of the earth, as it were, and revealed oil enough,
to all present appearances, to last while the world shall stand.
So in relation to this very fertilizing material : when our lands
had become almost exhausted in consequence of removing so
many successive crops, and the lack of fertilizing material,
He gave us the islands of guano ; and when those were
stripped of this substance, then He unbosomed these immense
tracts in the South, which are almost inexhaustible. Gentle-
men, I have got off the track a little ; but I cannot help utter-
ing this thought in connection with the point to which I have
just referred. I am a merchant as well as a farmer, although
I claim to be a farmer first, because that is my favorite occu-
pation. In times past, we have had, every few years, a finan-
cial crisis, arising from the fact of our being in debt to foreign
nations for the importations of goods. But God has opened
the bowels of our mountains at the West and given us gold,
and spread out for us fertile fields, whereby we are able at all
9

66 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

times to keep the balance of trade in onr favor, and thus
relieve us from such difficulties in the future.

I am very deeply interested in this matter which is under
discussion, and I hope that the various inquiries which have
been made by gentlemen present, will induce them to make
some experiments themselves.

Mr. W. C. Strong, of Newton. I think we shall all agree
with Col. Wilder, that the essay presented by the Secretary
has been extremely interesting ; but if we leave the subject
just here, it seems to me we shall be left in doubt whether this
material is, after all, of practical value to the farmer. Mr.
Flint has told us that he would not recommend us to dissolve
this substance with sulphuric acid, but would rather leave us
to the tender mercies of the dealers. He has suggested an-
other method, which is, to mix this phosphate with ferment-
ing manure. Now, we may guess at results in that way ; we
may think that we have increased the value of stable-manure
by the addition of this material, but to just what extent it has
increased the value, or whether it is economical or not, it will
be very hard for the ordinary farmer to say. I want to ask
Mr. Flint a question or two. He has told us that large quan-
tities of those phosphates have been sent to Baltimore, and
that large quantities have been sent to England. I want to
ask him whether there have been any actual tests made to see
what the results are. Col. Wilder has alluded to their use in
the cotton-fields of the South. I must, for one, confess that
I have not been aware of the use of this material, or what
results have followed.

Mr. Flint. I did not mean to imply that I would discour-
age the use of this article. I believe in the use of artificial
fertilizers. I believe in the use of concentrated fertilizers;
but those who make a specialty of the manufacture of these
articles can manipulate them more perfectly, more economi-
cally and to a better purpose, than the common farmer can ;
so that my idea is, that if a farmer wants to get a substance
that will act immediately, it would be better for him to pay
$37, $45, $50, or even $60 a ton, if ho can get a nice article,
than to attempt to manufacture the article himself, where he
cannot be sure of the composition, where it must be a matter
of experiment. A substance may be cheap and economical for

MIX WITH FERMENTING MANURE. 67

a farmer to use at $60 a ton, and another substance may
be very dear at $10 a ton. So that I think, as a general
thing, we had better depend upon those who make a busi-
ness of manipulating and manufacturing this article into
superphosphate. As to the value and economy of the use of
superphosphates, when they are honestly made, there can be
no question. It is perfectly certain. Not only intelligent
farmers, but intelligent scientific men, all over the world,
have come to the conclusion that artificial fertilizers must
come in as a necessary adjunct in first-class farming every-
where. It is a matter of necessity. The very fact that they
have increased so enormously all over the civilized world
shows the necessity and economy of their use.

Now, in regard to the question of Mr. Strong, I can only
say that I know of no direct and detailed experiments which
have been made to test the practical value of this article, but
there is no question that it would have the same results
as other superphosphate manufactured with fresh or crude
bone. It is just as good, so far as its mechanical and eco-
nomical composition is concerned, as superphosphate made
of fresh bone. So far as that is concerned, there can be no
difference. If you get a certain amount of phosphoric acid,
it is identically the same substance, no matter where you get
it from, and the results are the same. I would recommend the
use of it in a crude, finely ground form, mixed in the manure-
heap at the barn, because in that way the farmer can replace,
gradually and economically and at very small cost, the phos-
phoric acid which he has been dragging out of his soil by the
crops which he has been cultivating. We have been taking from
our soils for a century vast amounts of phosphoric acid. We
can replace it, at comparatively little cost, in the way I have
suggested, and more economically, as it seems to me, than
we could by the manufactured superphosphates. I think
that they ought to be used also, and that we should endeavor
to get all the fertilizing substances we can.

Dr. Sturtevant. In 1872 I had occasion to spend some
little time in Charleston, and travelled somewhat extensively
through the Border States. Through the courtesy of Prof.
Shepard, I was given admittance to the phosphate factories at
Charleston, and made quite a thorough investigation of them,

68 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

and I desire to say, in justice to the Charleston superphos-
phate, that any man who visits the factories there, and sees it
in the process bf manufacture, will come away with the con-
clusion that the superphosphate, as it leaves the factory, is
unadulterated. Not only will he come to that conclusion from
the character of the men who are interested in it, but he will
see that there is no chance for adulteration ; there is no mate-
rial about the factory with which they can adulterate it. It
is simply the ground rock, treated with dilute sulphuric acid,
and then mixed with dried meats, or guano, or potash salts,
according to the market to which it is going. There is no
further addition to it, and no chance for any further addition.

As to the use of it in the South, I will say that in 1872, as
one travelled from Charleston through Georgia, until he
reached Tennessee, he would not pass a station without see-
ing bags of superphosphate lying upon the platform, or with-
out noticing the smell of it as it entered the car windows.
If any superphosphate is good, this Charleston superphos-
phate must be good; if any is pure, that is pure. I only
wonder that it has not been introduced more extensively into
foreign markets. If any person desires to get a superphos-
phate, if he gets this article of an honest dealer, and gets the
material which leaves the factory in Charleston, he may be
certain that he has a pure article ; I have not the slightest
question of it. I think, moreover, that this superphosphate
is furnished by the factories about as cheaply as we can expect
to obtain it. It was stated to me as a fact, by an authority
which I cannot question, that up to 1872 more money had
been lost than made in this superphosphate business there.
Some factories had been successful, but the larger part had
either failed entirely or were running at a loss, hoping for
better times.

The Chairman. I desire to state to the meeting, as a
matter of justice, that the committee of arrangements have
laid out a certain programme of proceedings, which is liberal,
large and ample. They have provided for this morning a
lecture on "Fertilizers and their Application," which you
have just heard with so much interest, and also a "Report
upon Experiments with Fertilizers at the Agricultural
College," by the Professor of Practical Agriculture, at the

EXPERIMENTS WITH FERTILIZERS. 69

College. For the afternoon, they have provided a lecture by-
Mr. William C. Strong, upon "Winter-Gardening and Glass
Structures," — a very important subject, — and a discussion
upon Market-Gardening is to follow, including a paper on
Root Crops, by Mr. O. B. Had wen, of Worcester. It will
be manifest to the meeting, that the committee have laid out
work enough ; so much work, that it must be divided properly
and fairly, and there must be some limit put to the discussion
of each one of these questions. Now, we have occupied on
this matter, already an hour and three-quarters of the morn-
ing session, and the Board will see that it is utterly impossible
to exhaust any question here. That cannot be done, never
was done, and never will be, in any meeting of Yankee
farmers, as far as I know; not even the "fodder-corn" ques-
tion. I would suggest, therefore, to the meeting, that the
Chairman be authorized to divide the session, during the
remainder of the day, fairly, in order to give every gentleman
who has come here to speak, an opportunity.

Col. Stone. We expect the Chairman to do that.

The Chairman. Then the Chair will declare that the dis-
cussion on the Charleston phosphates is closed.

REPORT OF PROFESSOR STOCKBRIDGE.

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Board of Agri-
culture:— I am now present to discharge a duty which has
been assigned me in your order of exercises, by reporting
upon the experiments with fertilizers that have been conducted
at the Agricultural College ; yet I am under the necessity of
saying that I cannot, in respect to those experiments, report
to you a completed work ; and in the fragment of time that
is now left to me, I can only report a moiety of that partial
work; for the experiments at the College with fertilizers,
although they have been in operation for six years, are only
fairly inaugurated. As we have put the questions to nature
by our experiments, and received our answers, those answers
have compelled us to put many other questions, and so the
work broadens and leads us on, I do not know but indefinitely.

Now, gentlemen, if you will permit me, before commencing
a detailed statement of the experiments at the College, I will

70 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

say a few words in relation to experiments in general, and
some other matters relating to our experiments. Almost
before the Agricultural College was inaugurated as a school,
I, as the responsible head of the agricultural department, was
told by the trustees that I should be expected to institute
and carry forward agricultural experiments. "Very good;
but what are your experiments, gentlemen?" "Oh, experi-
ments with fertilizers ; experiments with soil ; experiments
with crops ; experiments with cattle." "Yes ; but specifically,
what experiments?" And echo answered, "specifically, rohat
experiments?" The farmers of the State gathered around
me and said, "Your mission here is to try experiments."
"What experiments do you want tried? What is there that
you do not know which you wish to know from nature, by
putting questions to her?" Said an intelligent practical
farmer from Berkshire County, "You should experiment with
phosphates, and if you can show to the farmers of the Com-
monwealth that phosphates are needed to grow wheat, and
that they can grow wheat with phosphates, you will confer
upon the farmers of this State a pecuniary benefit a thousand-
fold greater than all your institution has or ever will cost."
Many others said, "We want you to experiment with com-
mercial fertilizers." They said, "The country is flooded with
commercial fertilizers, — some good, some bad, and some
indifferent. Now, it is your mission to try experiments with
these commercial fertilizers, and tell us farmers which are the
good and which are the bad, so that we need not throw our
money away in buying worthless articles." Other farmers
said, "You should experiment in underdraiuing, and teach us
whether underdraining is an improvement or not." Others
said, "You must experiment with stock, so that we may
know which is the best breed of cattle to have on the farm."
Now, farmers look at it ! Let me take the track backwards.
"Experiment with stock, to see which is the best breed of
cattle to have on the farm." Experiment with machines, to
see which is the best machine for the farm ! Machine for
what? breed of cattle for what? "Experiment in under-
draining." Why, is there a man who ever thought, from
Columella down to this time, who did not know, or does not
know to-day, that underdraining is no experiment ; that it was

ESSENTIALS TO AGRICULTURAL INQUIRY. 71

tried out generations ago? Everybody knows that under-
draining pays, as a rule. "Experiment with phosphates, to
see if they will produce wheat." Does not every man know,
and has not every man known for long years, that phosphates
are absolutely essential for wheat, aDd that no experiments
are needed to find it out? And does not every man know
equally well, that it is absolutely impossible to grow wheat on
phosphates alone? It cannot be done, and we all know it.
What is the use of trying experiments?

It seems to me that in trying experiments, the first and
essential thing is, that the experimenter shall have a perfectly
clear, distinct and definite idea of what he wants to learn.
Having first a complete knowledge of all that is known at the
present time on that subject, he should be able clearly and
distinctly to define that which is not known, but which he
desires to know. Then he should have a special and practi-
cal knowledge of all the circumstances attending the case,
that he may be able to put his questions to nature, by way of
experiments, in such a manner that nature can make, if pos-
sible, a categorical answer ; and, if not a categorical answer, he
himself should have such complete and acute discernment and
powers of observation that he shall be able to interpret
nature's answer, if it is not specific and direct. Then, if his
experiments are with fertilizers, he should have an absolute
practical knowledge of the material with which he experi-
ments. For instance, if he supposes himself to be experi-
menting with a phosphate, he should know absolutely that he
has a phosphate with which to experiment, and not a sulphate.
If he thinks he is experimenting with ammonia for the sake of
the nitrogen, he should know absolutely that he has nitrogen
or ammonia, and not the odor of coal-tar, or the odor of any
other vile compound that the fertilizer-manufacturer may palm
off upon him. That is absolutely essential.

Another point is this : In experiments with fertilizers, and,
for that matter, in the ordinary use of fertilizers on the farm,
the experimenter, and, I feel bound to say, the farmer, too,
should utterly discard and disown any experiments, or any
use of any fertilizers on laud that is in an improper physical
condition. That is the first thiug to be attended to before
you talk about experimenting, to see that the land is in first-

72 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

class physical condition. For instance, if I put a valuable
fertilizer upon land which is saturated with water, and where,
as a matter of course, the roots of the plants are inactive and
dormant, what right have I to expect that those roots shall
penetrate the soil and gather up the fertilizers which I use ?
And if they cannot, then I have not learned much whether
my fertilizer is a good one or not. If, again, the soil is com-
pact and hard ; if it is bound together by any cement in the
form of lime, clay or hard-pan, so that the air cannot pene-
trate it, then experiments with fertilizers on such land are
absolutely valueless, because the air cannot enter to sweeten
the soil, and I do not know whether my fertilizer was adapted
to the plants or not.

Now, gentlemen, there are two ideas in relation to experi-
ments with fertilizers, or the application of fertilizers or
manures, which the experimenter, and the farmer, too, should
have clearly in his mind, — never confound them, but always
act on them, each in its own line and own direction. Those
ideas are these : First, the application to the land of compar-
atively coarse, crude, cheap material (your ground phosphate
here is one), which is to be put into the soil, and there
gradually by decomposition and recombination, develop plant-
food, and slowly, gradually feed the plants. This is a cheap
operation, like the ploughing in of a green crop, like putting
into the land muck, like sowing upon it plaster, or this cheap,
crude phosphate. The other idea is that of giving to the
land costly but ready-prepared material, for the express pur-
pose of feeding the plants immediately. Those are the two
ideas. They are distinct, separate, and should always be
acted upon by the experimenter, as well as by the practical
farmer, from a separate standpoint. I know, gentlemen, that
when we manure the land we always feel as if we wanted a
return immediately. But take those ideas and act on them.
Never buy a South Carolina phosphate like that, and be jewed
into paying forty dollars a ton, with any expectation that you
are ever to get your money back so that you can know it.
When you pay a high price for fertilizers, get something that
will be food for your plants, something that they can take up
immediately, and then you will get your money back, with
good interest on the same.

AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE EXPERIMENTS. 73

I come now to the matter of the experiments at the College,
and I will give you some of the reasons why those experi-
ments were instituted. In the first place, they were instituted,
as a matter of course, because we wanted to learn something,
and because we wanted to learn something about a matter
of which practical men, whatever were their opinions or their
ideas, knew really but very little ; and, so far as that matter
was concerned, scientific men knew practically nothing. That
was the first reason. The next reason was, we had gathered
together a large company of young men (students), and we
wanted to train them in relation to their powers of observa-
tion ; we wanted to teach them to experiment ; we wanted
them to participate in the experiments that were being carried
on ; and, if anything was learned, to go away and scatter that
information broadcast, and put it into practice where they
should locate. Another reason, coming home to these farmers
of the State, was this : the circumstances of our agriculture are
such, with this dense population gathered all around our farms,
engaged in other pursuits than agriculture — pursuits that make
no food, and looking to the farmers for supplies for their daily
sustenance, bringing almost at their doors a good remunera-
tive price (although farmers are grumbling all the time) — I
say, the circumstances are such, that the tendency is to take
the crops from the farm in their crude state and sell them,
leaving very little material on the farm, which, in the form of
the refuse of those crops and what we call barnyard manure,
can be put back on the land as food for succeeding crops.
The consequence is, that there is a sliding-down scale in the
fertility of our farms; and you know, brother farmers, that
all through the Commonwealth a large per cent, of our farms
have got well down. Now, then, it seemed to be important that
we should find some material to take the place of the exported
materials from the farm, which would make food for crops.
We can buy stable and barnyard manure in our cities, towns
and villages, and in that way get some of the material back
upon our soil ; but we can get but little in proportion to what
we want, and when we get it, it costs us generally more than
it is worth. Manure of the best quality, that we get in our
stables, costs from fourteen to eighteen dollars a cord on the
land, and that is more than any farmer engaged in general
10

74 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

farming can afford to pay. He may possibly afford to pay that
price to grow tobacco at thirty cents a pound, or some of the
special crops of market-gardening ; but, in general farming,
we cannot afford to pay that price, and, therefore, we must
look further. That was one reason why we tried these ex-
periments, to see if we could not find something that would
make crops grow, strange as it may seem, without the use of
barnyard manure. *

The next thing was this : science has really made some
wonderful discoveries within the last few years, and it seemed
that the time had come when some of those discoveries should
be made practical to the men on the farms who were growing
crops. Chemistry, for instance, had shown us absolutely
what our plants were made of, and that the composition of
our plants was not an accident, it was not a chance, but was
from design, by the All- wise, and that the composition of
plants never changes, never varies. The composition of
wheat, for instance, to-day, was the composition of wheat a
hundred years ago, and it will be the composition of wheat a
hundred years hence, or else wheat will not answer the pur-
pose for which the Almighty designed it. The composition
of plants which the chemist has taught us, is an absolute, un-
changeable fact, and we can rely upon it. But the chemist
has gone further, and has proved to us not only what plants
are made of, but that while thay are made of different mate-
rials, which are always there, these different materials are
in very unequal proportions. Some of those materials are
always put in the wheat plant in large proportions, others in
small proportions ; but these proportions are absolutely the
same, — yesterday, to-day, and forever. Now, if there is a
scientific man here, I do not know but that he will say, "I
don't know about that." But I make the statement again,
that in mature, well-ripened plants, the proportion of the
different elements is invariably the same, as far as practice is
concerned. The chemist may find a difference of a two-hun-
dredth of one per cent, or a five-hundredth of one per cent,
in the different analyses ; but perhaps it is his own fault,
because he did not find how much water there was in it. But,
practically, for you and I, in tilling the land and feeding the
plants, I say that the chemists have taught us what plants are

WHAT CHEMISTRY HAS TAUGHT. 75

made of, the absolute proportions of the different materials
of which they are made, and that, in mature, well-ripened
plants, those proportions are invariable, always have been,
and always will be.

The next point that the chemist has taught us is the abso-
lute condition in which all these materials must be in the soil,
in order that the vital forces of the plant may use them for its
support. Science has told us absolutely what form all this
material must be in, and that it must be in a form of simple
solubility ; that you may have all the South Carolina phosphate
in creation on your land, and until it becomes solvent the plant
growing upon your land will starve for wrant of phosphoric
acid. But when it is made solvent, and all the materials are
made solvent, then the plant can take it up.

Then, permit me to mention another thing that chemistry
has done. Chemistry has gone so far in its researches, and,
in its development of manufacturing industries, that we can
to-day, as the result of chemical research, and the manufac-
tures which chemistry has started into activity, buy in the
market, as market commodities, all those elements of which
nature makes plants, in the form in which nature uses them,
and at a price which we, as farmers, can afford to pay ; and
we can buy them*in any quantity we wish. And when we
remember the discovery of potash salts in Germany, and the
phosphate beds of South Carolina, all the elements of plant-
growth are now at our service. We can get them in limitless
quantities, at prices which we can afford to pay, if they are
good for anything ; and thus, if need be, we can dispense
with barnyard manure. If need be, but not without.

Now, that is the thing we wanted to learn at the College.
We wanted to learn if those materials could be taken and put
into the soil, using absolutely the materials that nature uses
to make plants, and in absolutely the form in which nature
uses them, and if thus we could make plants. But there was
another question which came in. Chemistry has taught us,
that those materials are found in plants in very different pro-
portions, and while the minimum quantity is absolutely
essential to the plant, just as essential as the maximum
quantity, yet, so far as the farmer was concerned, in supply-
ing means, might it not be possible that, if the farmer

76 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

supplied to the plants those materials which they consume in
maximum quantities, he would develop, the next year, out of
the materials in the soil, those elements which the plant con-
sumes in minimum quantity, and thus the farmer be relieved
from the expense of supplying anything for the growth of the
plants but those larger elements which the plant consumes in
greatest quantity? That was the first question we asked
nature in our experiments, and that question we put in 1869.
I come now, gentlemen, to the experiments. We com-
menced, as I say, in 1869. We took from various parts of
the College farm, and from surrounding farms, far and near,
specimens of soil, carefully avoiding all rich lands, and put
them into pots in the plant-house. Into those pots we put
the different agricultural crops or plants which we produce.
To those plants we gave various materials, and, of course,
we had Dr. Goessmann to tell us what we should use ; there
was no guess about it. We fed those plants with nitrogen,
with phosphoric acid, with potash, with all the different
elements, — soda, magnesia, carbon, and everything else. I
will not stop to detail minutely the experiments during the
first four years. Year after year we went on — feeling, feel-
ing, feeling — to see what stimulated the growth, and what
did not stimulate the growth; two years in the pots in the
plant-house, and two years in large boxes out in the garden,
near my own residence ; carefully observing the effects pro-
duced upon the plants by these different elements which we
used. The result was this : that, if I interpreted the answer
I got aright, nature said, "In practical operations on the
land, for crops, one year, two years, three years, four years
consecutively, for such crops as you have used, the farmer
need not use any carbon, to make carbonic acid, sugar,
starch, etc. He need not use any oxygen or hydrogen, any
soda, or any chlorine. He need not use any sulphuric acid ;
he need not use any magnesia, except, perhaps, for the
tobacco crop. He need not apply anything to grow crops
upon the farm, but nitrogen, potash and phosphoric acid."
That is what nature seemed to say to us : "If you want to
grow plants, take nitrogen, potash and phosphoric acid, on
such soils, for such plants, and you can make them." We
accepted the answer; supposed, perhaps, we were right,

NATUEE INVESTIGATED. 77

perhaps we might not be. We were now ready to go abroad,
and ask the question in the open field.

Now, gentlemen, some of you may think that I was very
foolish, but this is the question I put to nature: "Having
understood you to tell me that nitrogen, potash and phos-
phoric acid will produce plants, if I mix nitrogen, potash and
phosphoric acid in an absolutely solvent form, and if I give
those materials to you, can you make me plants or crops just
in proportion to the quantity I give you?" That was the
question I proposed. Another question was, "If I give you
the materials to make twenty-five bushels of corn, and its
natural proportion of stalks, can you take the materials and
return me twenty-five bushels of corn, and the stalks which
are supposed to be its natural proportion?" That was the
other question, — a very foolish one, perhaps ; but we were
bound to ask it, to see what nature would say. This began
in the year 1873, and, if you do not object, I will tell you
the results of the experiments with corn in 1873 and 1874.
The experiments were tried with corn, with wheat, with rye,
with oats, with potatoes, with tobacco and with grass. We
commenced with corn ; and I wish to show where we made a
mistake, and what was the result of that mistake. After
having got the materials ready, this question came up : "Now,
I commit to the bosom of the earth, nitrogen, potash and
phosphoric acid enough to make so many bushels of corn.
It cannot be possible that the plants will get all those
materials this year. Some of them will be left scattered
around in the soil ; that the plants will not get ; and I shall
make a failure of it, of course. Therefore, if I want, in my
first experiment, to get twenty-five bushels of corn, I must
put in more materials than are needed, and the extra amount
of materials I must charge to the land for its improvement."

It was a great mistake ; but I did it. I said, "The plants
cannot take all the materials, and I will add one-third more
than I want, to get twenty-five bushels of corn (if that was
the quantity), and I will charge it over to the land."

In the spring of 1873 we selected, upon one side of the
large cornfield upon the farm, a piece of land ; on the other
side of it was a field of potatoes. The cornfield was heavily
manured, the farmer said, with six cords- of manure to the

78 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

acre, and the potatoes, on the other side, were manured with
barnyard manure. Two equal plots for corn were measured
accurately, — twenty square rods, — and the soils, as far as could
be determined, upon the judgment of the farmer and my own,
were absolutely alike. Mr. Dillon, the farmer, said, "This
land will bear fifteen bushels of corn to the acre, without any
manure." "Very well ; I am going to put into that land the
material to make twenty-five bushels of corn, and if the land,
without manure, will bear fifteen bushels of corn, with its
natural proportion of stalks, my crop shall be forty bushels,
with its natural proportion of stalks." The corn was planted
on the 22d of May, in rows about four feet apart in each of
the plots, the same number of hills to the row, and the same
number of hills in each plot ; and, at the third hoeing, the
same number of stalks were left to grow on each plot. The
material was applied on the same day to each plot by strewing
it in the furrow. The two plots were hoed on the same day,
and when the corn was cut, it was cut at the same time and
husked at the same time. The treatment of the two plots
was exactly alike. The corn was cut about the 2 2d of Sep-
tember, and husked about the 20th of October. The plot
without manure, instead of yielding fifteen bushels to the acre,
yielded thirty-five ; therefore, the plot with manure, instead
of yielding forty bushels, must yield sixty. The plot with
manure actually yielded sixty-four and four-tenths bushels ;
having not only sustained nry statement, but proved itself a
failure, because it produced more corn than I said it should.
Now, gentlemen, let me show you the doubt. I had put in
more materials than I said were wanted for the twenty-five
bushels of corn and its natural proportion of stalks, and I
had got more corn than I ought to have had. Now, here is
the doubt : have I left in the land one-third of the materials,
which I should charge to the land, or have I got everything
in my crop? I had lost a year, so far as answering that
question was concerned. I did not know but I had wronged
my land by charging it with materials which it had not got,
but which I had got in mj' corn-bin.

Now, I was not satisfied — because farmers were hungry for
information — I was not satisfied to try the experiment upon
the College farm alone. I said : "The result will be different

NOT EASILY SATISFIED. 79

upon different farms and under different circumstances ; " and
so I sent to Hadley, to an observing, careful farmer, in the
same year, 1873, and I said; "I want you to try this ex-
periment. I will bring you the material, and I want you to
try it on the poorest piece of land on God's earth that will
grow anything." I thought he had some on his farm. He
said he had, and he would do it. He selected a piece of poor,
sandy land lying upon a ridge, that had not a spear of grass
growing upon it. It had on it some rye-stubble of very feeble
growth and wild wormwood, and he told me that the last
crop of rye was about four bushels to the acre. I asked him
how much corn that land would produce without any manure.
"Well," he said, "if it is a first-rate year, with abundance of
rain, I may, perhaps, get fifteen bushels to the acre." " Well,"
I said, "that does not make any difference. I will bring you
the materials to make twenty -five bushels, with the natural
proportion of stalks. Take it and try the experiment. I
am going to leave it entirely to you. You put the material
on as I tell you, carefully cultivate the crop, and in the fall
report to me the result, — twenty-five bushels to the acre." I
told him he should have the corn the land would produce, and
that if, without manure, it would produce fifteen bushels, then
the plot with manure should produce forty bushels. I saw
the corn twice in the summer, but I did not see him on the
land. He reported that he husked it in November ; that it
was very dry when he husked it, and, therefore, he weighed
it at the time of husking, and called seventy pounds in the
ear a bushel of corn. On that basis of reckoning, his report
was as follows : the plot without manure, which he thought
would yield fifteen bushels to the acre, yielded eighteen ; the
plot with manure, which should have yielded, on my calcula-
tion, forty-three bushels, yielded forty-eight. The experi-
ment on the College farm ran over four and one-quarter
bushels ; the experiment on Mr. Hurd's farm ran over just
five bushels.

The same year (because, as I said, we reached out to see
what we could learn under different circumstances) I sent to
a careful, observing farmer in Sunderland, and I said, "I
want this experiment tried on the alluvial soil of the Sunder-
land meadows ; you have good land here, and I want you

80 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

should grow me a crop of corn. Here are the materials that
I want you to put on the land, and make me fifty bushels
of. corn to the acre, over and above what the land would
naturally produce, with the proper proportion of stalks. I
want you to try the experiment carefully and report to me in
the fall." He agreed to do it, and I knew he would do what
he said. He selected a plot of land on a meadow. I asked
him how much he thought it would bear to the acre, without
manure. He said thirty bushels to the acre. "Very good,"
I said ; M I have brought you the material to make fifty
bushels of corn with its natural proportion of stalks. If you
get thirty bushels without manure, I am to have eighty
bushels with manure." I did not see this crop during the
year ; but in the month of December folloAving, I received
this strange report : That he had carefully carried the
experiment through, weighed his corn in December, and the
result of the experiment was, that the plot without manure,
instead of having produced thirty bushels, did not give but
eighteen, and that the plot with manure made 83f bushels to
the acre. I got, therefore, a great deal more corn than I
ought to have had. It went up, just as the other two experi-
ments did, above the original statement, but the plot without
manure had gone down to eighteen bushels. I wrote a letter
to Mr. N. A. Smith, in which I said, "If I did not know you
were a man of truth, I should believe you lied. It cannot be
possible. There is a mistake somewhere about this. That
plot could not, with that material for fifty bushels of corn,
have gone up to eighty bushels, or else something ailed the
crop without the manure. Did the grasshoppers eat it, or
did the army-worm eat it? This experiment cannot be true."
He replied : " I can't tell you anything about it, only this ; I
concluded not to plant the lot which I showed you, and I put
my cornfield on the other side of the road, on low land ;
laud that was rich, but so cold that it could not bear corn with-
out manure ; but I had to plant one plot without manure, and
the consequence was, that the corn planted on that land
originally came up yellow corn, it remained yellow corn
throughout the season ; did not ripen, and I got very poor,
miserable stuff. It was not half cured-off when I harvested
aud husked it ; but on the plot that had manure applied to it,

CONTINUATION OF EXPERIMENTS. 81

the corn came up rank and strong, grew vigorously during the
season, and produced the crop I have stated." Therefore, I
was obliged to accept the result, as he had stated it, and I
could not tell, without some reasoning, whether the experiment
was a success or a failure. But I knew very well that it was
one of those failures that every farmer would like to have
happen on his farm, and therefore I was satisfied.

These experiments have been continued year after year, on
the same land. Last year, as I said, we tried the experiment
on land directly in the farmer's way, and we were a nuisance
to him, having our little twenty-rod plots in a large field.
He wanted us out of the way, and I did not blame him for
that, for we were a lawless set ; and so we went off into
another field and selected a plot which we can have until the
crack of doom, for aught I know. It is on the hill east of
the plant-house; on that poor miserable drift-soil, where the
subsoil is hard-pan and the upper soil is full of water and
stone. Those of you who have been to the College, know
what it is better than I can describe it to you. It was
manured for a crop of corn in 1868, and then was seeded
down and mown from that time until this year, when it pro-
duced so small a crop of grass that my friend Dillon thought
it was not worth mowing. The statement was made, "On
this land, I will make fifty bushels of corn more than the land
will produce without manure." I said, "I will not make the
mistake I did last year by putting in more material than I
want to go into the corn. I will put on just material enough
to make fifty bushels of corn, and its natural proportion
of stalks, without putting on any more to be charged to the
land. I will know where I am." Two plots were selected,
which were just alike, so far as we could judge, staked off in
just the same way, and the corn planted and cultivated in the
same way. The first crop of corn was what we call Connect-
icut River twelve-rowed corn. We have named it "the
Stebbins corn." This year we planted what we know as "the
Cummings corn," a fine large corn which is grown in that
neighborhood, and has that local name. It resembles the
"King Philip" corn. The two plots were planted on the
same day, and the material was applied to one of them to
make fifty bushels of corn. It grew magnificently. We
11

82 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

were perfectly satisfied with it. It was harvested about the
25th of September, and husked about the last of November,
and, of course, it is still hanging to dry. The experiments at
the College have been made by drying the corn and weighing
it in December, but in order that I might report here, I have
estimated seventy pounds in the ear to the bushel, and I
make the statement on that basis. The result was, that the
plot of land without manure produced thirty-four bushels to
the acre, the plot of land with manure which it was stipulated
would make fifty bushels more to the acre, made 83.28
bushels to the acre. That is, it did not come up to the state-
ment, by a little less than three pecks to the acre. It should
have made exactly fifty bushels, and it made 49.28. That is
the result of the experiment this year.

So much, gentlemen, for the experiments with corn. Now,
I wish to detail some other experiments that have proved
absolute failures. Experiments have been tried in various
places, the materials having been sent out from the College to
Northfield, to Southampton, and other places, and every one
of them has proved a failure. Now, before detailing these
experiments, let me say that Dr. Goessmann, the chemist of
the College, and for that matter, the chemist of the State,
has assisted us by his counsel and advice wherever his help
was needed, and for the experiments on the College farm, has
himself made the phosphates, and he has compounded the
materials as I requested him, from time to time, when I
wanted them to apply ; so I knew, except in one case, what
I used, how it was mixed, and that there was no mistake
about it. Now, I come to where he made a mistake, where
I made a mistake, and where a series of experiments failed,
and I detail these experiments because, if anything, they
prove absolutely that I am on the right track, and if I can
learn anything by the failure of an experiment, it is worth
just as much to me as though I learned it by its success. We
must have nitrogen, potash, and phosphoric acid just in the
proportions to feed the plant that the plant mixes them when
it makes itself. Now, we must know what our potash is,
what our phosphate is, and what our nitrogen is, and we must
know that these are absolutely soluble. The potash was pro-
cured in Boston, coming to us with the certificate of a Boston

A BOSTON CHEMIST. 83

chemist, saying that it contained so much actual potash.
Well, a Boston chemist is a big-bug, you know, and of course
he tells the truth, because he is in the employ of the fertilizer
manufacturers, and we accepted his statement that it contained
so much actual potash, and my friend, Dr. Goessmann, mixed
the fertilizers in the laboratory at the College, based on that
certificate. I mixed them out of the same potash, based on
that certificate. I sent them broadcast all through the adjoin-
ing towns, from Northfield to Southampton. The Professor
laid by a sample of that potash to analyze as quick as he
could get at it, but supposed it would not vary more than
half of one per cent., and practically it Avould make no differ-
ence with the experiments. By and by he analyzed that
potash, and instead of its containing thirty-two per cent, of
actual potash, it only contained eight per cent. ; and, there-
fore, instead of our paying eight cents a pound for the potash,
we had paid thirty-two, and our fertilizers, instead of having
the requisite amount of potash to make this crop, contained
not quarter enough. If it were possible, I should say there
was a row at the Agricultural College. The young man who
got the potash for us is here, and I do not want to hurt his feel-
ings, because he is not to blame ; but we sent to Boston quick ;
everything was depending upon potash. We must have
potash, and give it to these crops immediately, or we should
lose a year's work. Now, I am going to hit somebody. I do
not know but the Doctor will find fault with me, but I do uot
care if he does. The young man was as indignant as we
were. He had dealt honestly and honorably. He had
bought the potash of the man who imported it, on the certifi-
cate of the Boston chemist, who said it contained thirty-two
per cent, of actual potash, and we honestly believed it did,
until it was tried. He was so indignant that he went to
the warehouse and took a bag of that material, carried it to
his office, took out a sample, and carried it to the Boston
chemist, whose certificate he had previously had, and said,
* There is trouble about this potash. There is a sample
taken from a bag which I got at the importer's. I want you
to analyze it accurately, and give me the analysis to send to
Amherst. The bag is going to Amherst just as quick as I get
back to my office, and Dr. Goessmann will analyze it." The

84 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

bag came to Amherst marked in a certain way. Dr. Goess-
mann was waiting for it, and he took a sample and went to
the laboratory, and had an analysis made of it. I had
received the analysis of the man in Boston, and he said that
it contained forty-eight per cent, of actual potash. The next
day, Dr. Goessmanu came to me and said that he had analyzed
a sample from the same bag, and that it contained eight and
a quarter per cent. Now, there was never found in this
country any of this material that contained forty-eight per
cent. If he had taken all the materials in it, — potash, soda,
magnesia, and all, — it would not have made forty-eight per
cent. ; and yet the Boston chemist certified, over his own
signature, that he had analyzed it, and that it did contain
forty-eight per cent. All I have to say about it further is,
that Dr. Goessmann went to Boston the next day on the
train, and Mr. So-and-So was very polite, and has been ever
since.

I have wandered from my subject, but I could not help
spitting this out. On the 20th day of July, we weighed out
the necessary amount of potash to make up the deficiency,
and put it on the land, hoed it into the corn and potatoes, so
as to make our experiment a success, if possible. The result
on the corn was what I have told you. I lacked a little less
than three-quarters of a bushel of getting my fifty bushels.
The potatoes lacked only nine bushels on a hundred of what
I said I should get ; but we could not get the potash to the
various places over the country to which we had sent the
materials to supply the requisite quantity, and the consequence
was, that the experiment was in every instance a failure.
There was no success anywhere, except where we put the
potash in on the College farm. The farmers have recorded
them as failures, but said at the same time, they never raised
such corn with any fertilizer that they had ever bought as
they raised with that stuff; but they did not get what I asked
for. I speak of those experiment as failures, but they have
taught me this, that my original proposition is perhaps true ;
that if I had mixed the potash in proper proportion, and sent
it over the country, every one of those experiments would
have been a success, just as the experiment on the College
farm was a success, where the potash was put in.

EXPERIMENTS ON POTATOES. 85

Now, gentlemen, there has been a long series of experi-
ments going on there. I only give you these results as
samples of successes and failures. There are a great many
questions which follow behind these, I know. Practical men
will ask, What does it cost? What effect does it have upon
the land ? Do you believe this is the result of the materials
you use, or is it the result of atmospheric influences? Have
not the seasons affected the result so that no dependence can
be placed upon it? All these are side questions which come
in, which every reasonable man who is experimenting must
be ready to answer. But I should exhaust your patience if I
undertook to go minutely into these things.

Let me say a word in regard to the experiments that have
not been successful. The experiment with potatoes in 1873
was a total and absolute failure, and yet I got a great deal
better crop of potatoes than was got with barnyard manure,
where five times the value of barnyard manure was applied.
This year the experiment with potatoes was a satisfactory one.
Anything in this matter is satisfactory. When I am sure I
get a correct answer from nature I do not care what it is, if it
satisfies me ; my notions are of no account on this matter. I
go in an honest way to nature to get an answer, and whatever
nature says, if I am able to interpret that answer, satisfies
me. I have no theories to sustain. This year the experi-
ment with potatoes was, as I have said, a success. I said I
would make a hundred bushels over and above what the land
would make without manure. The land planted without
manure yielded one hundred and twenty-eight bushels, which
is more than most of you get. The land with manure yielded
two hundred and nineteen bushels ; the same number of hills,
and treated in precisely the same way. I lacked nine bushels
of getting my hundred, over and above what the land would
produce without manure, so that I call that a fair success.

I will only take your time to say one thing more, because,
from my experience, I know the question that gentlemen will
ask me. They will say this is foolish talk ; but it does not make
any difference. If nature answers it so, that is none of my
business. "Why," says the farmer, "this is all humbug. If
you say you can make sixty bushels, why can't you make
eighty ; and if you can make eighty, why can't you make a

86 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

hundred ; and if you can make a hundred, why not two, and
so keep on, until we can grow all the corn, and all the grass,
and all the other crops we want on a very small farm, and we
can sell most of our land?" That seems to be reasonable;
but stop a moment. A certain relation exists between the
soil and the air, and you cannot go any further with the soil
than Almighty God can with his air. You cannot produce
plants, unless the sunlight gets down in among them, and
acts upon the leaves and decomposes the carbonic acid, and
thus lays up gum, starch, sugar and woody fibres for the
plant. The air must circulate through the foliage of your
crop freely, and the sunlight must go with it. The sunlight
must shine directly down upon the laud, or else indirectly, so
that the land shall be warmed by the sun's heat, or the roots
will not act. You cannot, therefore, go any further in the
direction of large crops than the sunlight and air can go
through your crops and into your soil. When you get your
foliage so large as to shut these out, you are down. How far
can you go? To satisfy the farmers on that point, I thought
I would take that silly question to nature. I said : "Here is
a plot of this miserable drift soil. It contains eight square
rods. I will measure off plots for potatoes and corn, and
pile in material enough to make one hundred bushels to the
acre, and see what answer nature will make in return." I
thought I would not have anything to do with it myself; so
the next rainy day I asked a squad of boys to take their hoes,
take the coru and the materials, and go up to that laud and
plant the corn, putting three kernels in a hill, once in two
feet; the intention being to thin it to two stalks in a hill, the
rows being four feet apart. They went and came back, and
reported that the work was done, and of course, as we expect
agricultural students to do about the fair thing, I supposed it
was done right. When the time came for hoeing the corn I
went up and looked at it, and found the corn growing finely
on the plot where the fertilizer was not used, but the boys
did not understand the strength of the material, and they had
put the corn directly upon the fertilizer, and the consequence
was that a great many of the hills were missing. When I
found out that the fertilizer was deficient in potash, on the
20th of July I hoed it in, and that corn grew ; there is no dodg-

EXPERIMENT WITH TOBACCO. 87

ing it. I harvested it and weighed it, and I got at the rate of
104.68 bushels to the acre on that poor miserable drift soil. I
should have got, according to the statement, if it had gone
through all right, one hundred and thirty-four bushels. It
was foolish to ask of that land one hundred bushels of corn,
but it gave me, in honest bushels, 104.68. In arriving at this
result I counted the missing hills, and estimated that they
would produce in the same proportion with the hills where
the corn actually grew.

We tried the experiment with tobacco last year. Tobacco
is a contraband crop at the College, yet the farmers in the
Connecticut valley will grow it. I do not know whether their
moral character has gone down or not. They seem to be a
pretty clever set of fellows. They are working hard, slaving
themselves to death, growing poorer every year raising to-
bacco, and I thought if we could do anything to get them out
of trouble, it was well enough to do it ; so last year I went
off the College farm, for the experiment could not be tried
there, and tried the experiment. I will not take your time
by going minutely over the details, but the general statement
made was this : that I would make so many hundred pounds
of leaf and so many hundred pounds of stalk to the acre.
The man who owned the land, and the man who ploughed
and fitted it for me, both said that the land would not
bear one pound of tobacco leaf. It was nothing but coarse
gravel, and would not even bear rye. The owner of the land
said it would not grow tobacco in any way, and I need not
make any estimate that it would produce so much, because it
would not produce anything. But I put the material on to
one plot, and planted another plot without manure, to see
whether it would bear tobacco ; aud of a truth, it did bear
tobacco, even without manure. The plot with manure grew a
crop of most beautiful, fine, silky, white-burning leaf, and
gave me at the rate of one thousand nine hundred and fifty
pounds to the acre. Now, the experiment was a failure, for
I did not get so many pounds as I said I would, because the
plot without any manure, although everybody said it would
not grow tobacco, did grow something, and I was obliged to
weigh it ; and tobacco growers will appreciate the fact, when
I say that of this poor miserable crop, growing without any

88 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

manure, with a leaf not so large as my hand and as thick and
heavy as a board, there was at the rate of one thousand pounds
to the acre, worth nothing, and which, as soon as it was
weighed, I threw into the barnyard. That made my experi-
ment a failure, because I did not get so many pounds over
and above what this plot produced as I said I would make.
I regard the experiment as a failure ; but those are the facts.
It was just such a failure, however, as some of these worried
and harassed tobacco-farmers would like to see repeated on
their farms.

Adjourned to two o'clock, p.m.

Afternoon Session.
The Board met at two o'clock, Dr. Loeing in the Chair.

WINTER GARDENING AND GLASS STRUCTURES.

BY WILLIAM C. STRONG, ESQ.

"We are familiar with and deeply interested in the exploits
of men who have braved the rigors of the Arctic region and
withstood its intense cold. Men are naturally strong and
are also capable of providing for and protecting their weak
points. They "pluck courage from the nettle danger," and
become muscular by endurance.

But plants are born of heat ; they are the children of the
sun ; they bask in its smiles and are cut down and perish by
the first breath of the frost-king. With what propriety can
we speak of gardening at a season of the year, when all
nature is locked in icy, death-like chains ? Yet it is a fact, that
at St. Petersburg, which is 1,200 miles north of the northern
line of Massachusetts, the most tender and delicate tropical
plants are cultivated in the dead of winter. The winter gar-
den of Prince Potemkin, which is three hundred feet long and
in the form of a semi-circle, at the end of a saloon of the
palace of Taurida, is thus described by Storck : " The walks of
this garden meander amidst flowery hedges and fruit-bearing
shrubs, winding over little hills and producing at every step,

GARDENING IN WINTER. 89

fresh occasion for surprise. The genial warmth, the fra-
grance and brilliant colors of nobler plants, and the voluptuous
stillness that prevails in this enchanted spot, lull the fancy
into sweet romantic dreams ; we imagine ourselves in the
blooming groves of Italy, while nature, sunk into a death-like
torpor, announces the severity of a northern winter, through
the window of the pavilion." Both at St. Petersburg and
Moscow, peaches, grapes, pine-apples, oranges and other
tropical fruits are ripened to a good degree of perfection
under glass-culture. It must be borne in mind, not only that
the temperature falls to fifty-one degrees below Fahrenheit,
and the Neva freezes to the thickness of a yard and a half,
but especially that in the shortest days the sun rises after nine
o'clock and sets before three o'clock, and runs but a few
degrees above the horizon for this brief time. Such are the
difficulties with which they successfully contend. And this
they are able to do, mainly, through the agency of glass.

Notice, then, the admirable adapteduess of glass for this
purpose. It is so transparent that when the sun's rays shine
upon a sheet at right angles, only two and a half per cent, of
the rays are intercepted by the glass, ninety-seven and a half
per cent, of the light and heat passing through unimpaired.
It is cheap ; it is very durable ; its brittleness being more than
counterbalanced, on fixed roofs, by the fact that it does not
rot. It is one of the most perfect non-conductors of heat,
and for this reason it is possible, in a clear, crisp winter's
night, when the breath goes up as incense, and

" The owl, for all his feathers, is a-cold,"

to separate and exclude this arctic frost from a tropical
luxuriance of vegetation by a thin sheet of glass of the thick-
ness of one-sixteenth of an inch. By so small a space we
pass from the poles to the tropics. This is what glass can do
for us.

Well may we study how we can best utilize a substance
which has been so cheaply and so abundantly provided by the
all-wise Creator for the vastly increasing demand of modern
times. Plant- culture under glass is a modern art. We find
no trace of it in the gorgeous culture of Babylon and other
ancient cities. We come down to a comparatively recent date
12

90 BOAED OF AGRICULTURE.

and a humble beginning, for the first mention of glass struct-
ures. In 1619, at Heidelberg, on the Rhine, Solomon de Caus
built a movable house, with side sashes, for the purpose of
sheltering orange-trees during the winter. It was put up at
Michaelmas and removed at Easter. But for the reason that
the roof was dark, or for some other cause, the trees did not
thrive, and the experiment was not considered successful.

In 1684 a permanent orangery was erected in the Apothe-
caries' Garden at Chelsea, now a part of London. It retained
the opaque roof, the sides only being of glass.

An orangery with a glass roof was built at Wallaton Hall,
Nottingham, in 1696. In the year 1717, Switzer, and soon
after Miller and Bradley, published plans for houses with glass
roofs. Several houses are mentioned as built during this cen-
tury, conspicuous among which are the old Stove, at Kew, one
hundred and fourteen feet long, built in 1760, which I am
told is standing; also an orangery one hundred and forty-five
feet long, thirty feet wide and twenty-five feet high, built in
the year following. But so little progress was made that
nearly a half century later, in 1809, a patent was obtained by
Dr. Anderson for houses with glass roofs and a proper slope.
This led to the publication of several papers by Knight, in the
Transactions of the Royal Horticultural Society, which stimu-
lated to a rapid advance, and it was considered that the ulti-
matum in form, for the admission of the sun's rays, was
reached by Sir G. Mackenzie, in 1815, in the suggestion of the
hemispherical figure.

By way of comparison, I give a brief description of the
largest plant-houses of England, France and Russia, — one for
each country.

The Imperial Botanic Garden of St. Petersburg was built
by the Czar Alexander, in a. d. 1824, and consists of three
ranges of houses, running east and west, aud facing south,
each seven hundred feet long, the north and south range being
twenty feet wide, and the middle range thirty feet wide and
forty feet high, with lights sloping from the top to the ground.
These ranges are three hundred and fifteen feet apart, and
are connected at each end and also in the centre by three
low, double-glazed and span-roofed houses, which are, con-
sequently, seven hundred feet long, and. running north and

FOREIGN GLASS STRUCTURES. 91

south. This immense hollow square, which would form a
continuous line of about three-quarters of a mile in length
and from twenty to thirty feet in width, is divided into numer-
ous compartments for stove and green-house temperature ; is
heated by wood burnt in flues, and was erected at a cost of
$200,000.

The immense palm-house in the public gardens at Kew was
commenced in 1842, under the direction of Sir W. J. Hooker.
It is three hundred and sixty-two feet long, one hundred feet
wide, and sixty-six feet high at the centre, fifty feet wide and
thirty feet high at the wings, and required three hundred and
sixty thousand square feet of glass (more than eight acres) to
cover the vast structure. It was completed in 1848, six
years after its commencement, and is now filled with lofty
palms and other noble tropical plants, which have reached the
extreme height of the building.

In Paris, in 1847, was first opened to the public the mag-
nificent Jardin de l'Hiver. Passing the vestibule and a concert-
hall one hundred feet by sixty feet, the corridor of the Jardin
is entered, and a view of surpassing beauty and magnificence
is revealed. The structure is in the form of a cross, three
hundred feet long and one hundred and eighty feet wide.
The roof, which is of iron, is exceedingly light and elegant in
appearance, and is supported by more than one hundred iron
pillars. A corridor from fifteen to twenty feet wide* extends
around the entire building, and also an upper gallery, about
thirty feet up- the pillars and six feet wide, is suspended
around the building. The pillars and palisades are covered
with trailing vines, while thousands of camelias, oranges,
azaleas, ericas and other choice plants are tastefully arranged
along the corridors. Toward the lower end the Jardin An-
glais is seen a grassy lawn, one hundred and fifty feet long,
intersected by borders of exotic trees and shrubs. Still fur-
ther on are fountains and rock- work. Numerous mirrors are
suspended upon the walls to heighten the effect. Basins of
gold and silver fish, and also singing-birds and birds of plu-
mage abound. This immense building is heated by one steam-
engine to a temperature of fifty-six degrees, Fahrenheit, in the
coldest days of winter.

It must be borne in mind that these magnificent structures,

92 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

though admirably adapted as conservatories and for the dis-
play of plants, are by no means as favorable for the growth
of most varieties as the low and inexpensive houses which
are so common among us.

Turning now from structures designed for ornament and
display, and remembering the limit of time allotted to me, I
will contine myself to such forms as I regard as best suited
for winter-gardening, for growth and productiveness rather
than for display. Within this limit, it will yet be necessary
to be concise and to omit many details. To commence with
the lowest form of glass structure, the most common and
still regarded as indispensable, is the frame. Obviously it is
well adapted for the simple winter protection of many tender
plants ; also for the late fall and early spring culture of cold-
blooded vegetables and plants, such as lettuce, radishes,
violets, and other plants which require a cool temperature and
nearness to the glass. The advantages of the frame consist
in the economy of construction, the nearness of the plants to
the glass, and the small space required to be heated, all of
which can be used for plant-culture, inasmuch as walks and
head-room are not provided. These advantages are sufficiently
important to warrant the continued use of frames for certain
purposes, such as winter protection and early spring market-
gardening. For family use, where it is desirable to start a
small amount of seeds and help forward early vegetables, the
ordinary hot-bed, heated by fermenting manure, will be found
to be the cheapest and most satisfactory method. But for
winter growth, frames are very unsatisfactory, even for
vegetables. First, the sashes are so nearly horizontal, that
when the sun runs low, its rays must strike the glass very
obliquely. Consequently, a very material percentage of the
sun's rays is deflected, causing an average loss of one-third
to one-half of the light and heat, varying according to the
pitch of the sash. This is a material loss, especially at the
season of shortest days and severest cold. Then the difficulty
of getting access to the crops in severe weather is almost an
insuperable objection. The cost of lifting and managing the
sashes, for the purpose of access, of ventilation and of
watering, is also serious. The ordinary method of heating
by fermenting material, of which horse-manure is by far the

HEAT OF FERMENTING MANURES. 93

most available, is yet expensive, — insufficient to meet the
exigencies of winter, and is very unsatisfactory in its results.
Though the heat of fermenting manure is most genial at ,
certain stages, yet it is of necessity fluctuating, and may fail
at the most critical time ; it involves a great amount of labor
and considerable loss of material, and on the whole must be
regarded as a most expensive method of heating during the
winter months. In permanent frames a single hot-water pipe
running along the front would be far more satisfactory.
Some crops, like the lily of the valley and Neapolitan violets,
might be successfully and economically forced in this way,
even in midwinter.

It is undoubted economy to construct these frames more
thoroughly than is usually the case. A south-eastern hillside
is the best position. Thorough drainage will contribute
essentially to the ease in management, and also to the
warmth of the soil. To this end, a gutter to carry off the
rains is very desirable. With a dry, warm soil secured,
"bottom heat" is not essential, nor is it as desirable for most
plants as is supposed. For a frame of any considerable
length, a hot-water pipe would give not merely a steady and
permanent heat, but also at very much less cost than by the
laborious and wasteful method of stable-manure. The space
to be heated is so limited, and the cost of heat by coal is so
small, that the economy of mats and board covers is more
than doubtful. If the frame is made with rest-bars for the
sashes, with a separating mid-rib, a single three or four
inch pipe will be amply sufficient for the coldest weather.
A four-inch pipe, put up, will cost but thirty cents per run-
ning foot. Straw matting costs twenty-five cents per running
foot. The labor of placing and caring for mats is very great,
not to speak of the waste. By the manure method, mats and
additional board covers are considered essential for winter
work. I am confident this method must give place to others,
less wasteful and requiring less labor. The tendency is, and
will continue to be, in the direction of permanent houses,
which shall be accessible from within, even for the culture of
the most hardy and cold-blooded plants.

I have recently seen an essentially modified form of the
frame in use by Mr. Morse, of Newton, in which I am told he

94 BOAKD OF AGRICULTURE.

has had uniform success in raising lettuce by fire heat. And I
am glad to be able to add, that Mr. Morse does not use
bottom heat. His house is a single roof, twenty-four feet
wide, facing south, at the ordinary flat angle of frames. A
large amount of ventilation is secured at the front and top. A
four-inch water-pipe runs along the front, and a flow-and-
return pipe rims up and down each of the two narrow sunken
walks which divide the house. Whatever difficulties of drip,
and of snow, and of ventilation may attend this form, yet it is
certain that excellent crops have here been produced in mid-
winter at very much less expense than by the old method.

A style of houses which has come into general use and is
commonly known as the ridge and furrow (though entirely
distinct from the form so called and applied by Sir J. Paxton
at Chatsworth) is too well known to require a description.
These houses have been usually constructed of sashes six feet
in length, and providing for ventilation by merely raising or
tilting as many sashes as may be found necessary. This
method is much more expensive, and it is by no means as
tight as a fixed roof with simple sash-bars. For this reason
sashes are not to be recommended, except in case of crops
which require full exposure to the air. It is apparent at a
glance that this form has many excellences. The entire
expanse of glass, however large it may be, is yet divided into
small sections about ten feet wide, thus avoiding the arid and
chilly draughts which are found in large houses. The heat in
these low and separate compartments is humid, genial and
uniform. The plants are near to the glass, accessible with the
utmost ease, and the head-room is obtained with economy of
space at the apex of the ridge. The houses are designed to
be low, the ridge not being in any case more than seven feet
above the ground surface. It is evident that there is economy
in the construction of a compact block of houses with but four
outside walls, however extended the range may be. A still
more important advantage results, that but four sides are
exposed to the cold ; the intermediate sections are flanked by
a tropical rather than an arctic temperature. Different opin-
ions are expressed as to the true position of these houses,
whether the ridges should run east and west, or north and
south. The question can be answered only by determining

EXPOSURE TO THE .SUN. 95

the use to which the houses .are put. For the vigorous winter-
growth of plants there can be no doubt that a nearly south-
east slope of the roof is most desirable. As was before
stated, but a very small percentage of the sun's light and heat
is intercepted or deflected when the ray impinges at nearly a
right angle. The loss continues to be trifling as the ray
departs from a perpendicular, and the angle with the plane of
the glass becomes more acute, and is only about four per
cent, when the angle is forty-five degrees with the glass.
But the loss increases at a rapid rate as the angle becomes
more acute. Hence it seems clear in theory, and it has been
found true in practice, that a roof, looking the sun full in the
face during the short days of winter, will produce the most
vigorous growth for all plants requiring light and heat.
Where only a moderate growth in winter is required, as, for
example, for the storage and propagation of bedding-plants,
which it is desirable to advance most rapidly in the spring
months, the north-and-south line for the ridge is most desira-
ble, since the morning and evening rays are very favorable,
and the mid-day rays, although considerably deflected, are
sufficiently strong for the desired purposes. But for forcing
work I am convinced that the roof should face southerly.
And hence I think it equally clear that the ridge-and-fur-
row style is not adapted to forcing. Only one-half of the
roof at best can face the south ; the other half is exposed to
the north winds, and cannot have the benefit of the sun. I
am told that in houses thus situated, and used for the growth
of lettuce, nearly double the time is required for maturing
the crop on the north bed that is necessary for the south
bed.

We may then conclude that for most purposes for which
this style is suited, a north-and-south line for the ridge is
best, and that such houses are well suited for the propagation
and gradual advance of plants, also for the culture of all plants
which do not require the direct and strong rays of the sun.
It follows that the site for the houses is a plain, the ridge runs
as nearly as possible north and south, so that the morning and
evening sun falls equally upon both sides of the ridge. I
have no doubt that lettuce can be headed to perfection in such
houses, with much more certainty and at much less cost than

96

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

by hot-beds, or frames. But to such general uses, in my
opinion, they should be limited..

Where growth or the developing of fruits or flowers is
desired, full exposure to the sun and a protected position are

HILLSIDE LOCATION. 97

essential. It is a common observation that a protected hill-
side, sloping south, is an entirely different climate from the
north side of the hill. We have all seen protected nooks,
looking towards the sun, which smile as with the touch of
spring, even in midwinter. No amount of coal can be an
equivalent for the life-giving warmth of the sun.

I have constructed a form of houses, which may be called
the hillside or terrace style, which I regard as admirably
adapted for such positions. Indeed, I consider the advantages
of the position, combined with the economy of construction
and management of the houses, to be so decided, that I believe
they will come into general use for winter-gardening. In
order that the plan may be more clearly understood, and in
the hope that others may be induced to give it a trial, I will
give a somewhat full description, which was prepared for the
Philadelphia " Gardener's Monthly," and published in the
August number for 1874.

The site must be a southern hillside, sloping at an angle of
from eighteen to twenty-five degrees. Having graded the lot
off — say one hundred feet square — then build a stone wall on
the four sides, averaging about five feet high. The outer sides
of the wall are to be banked up level with the top, with the
earth taken out of the sunken walks or elsewhere. The
inside is to be pointed with mortar. We now have a sunken
pit — one hundred feet square — to be covered with glass. A
diagram will best illustrate the form. It consists of a sue-
cession of lean-to sections, ten, twelve or fifteen feet in width,
as may seem most desirable for the work intended. The roof
is supported by the upper and lower wall, and also by the
rows of posts, a a a, six feet apart, which run under the
gutters. The ventilators, d (I, are of wood, and serve as an
effectual guard against a heavy fall of snow. In case it were
ever found necessary to remove snow, a sled, with one narrow
runner to rest upon the ventilator, would be serviceable. But
I have found no occasion to use my sled.

As illustrating the simplicity of the parts, which may all be
made by machinery, I give a diagram of the parts for one of
my houses, which is in sections, ten and a half feet wide.
The sash-bar of spruce, two by two, is nine and a half feet long.
The rabbet for the glass is deeper than usual, and is shown

13

98

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

by the lip at the lower end, which fits to the level of the
gutter. The bottom of the gutter, k, is an eight-inch plank.

The two sides, i i, and also the ridges, n n, are strips of two-
inch planks cut four inches wide, all the bevels being alike. The

STRUCTURE OF A GLASS HOUSE. 99

ventilator, d, is made of matched pine board cut into eighteen-
iuch lengths, and battened by four-inch strips on the upper
and under sides, as seen in the figure, so as to break the joints
and prevent the escape of heat. The ventilator runs the
length of the section, and is raised by pushers connected to
an iron rod. The brace, I, is placed at intervals of two and
a half feet.

All this work is put together with nails, the sides of the
gutters requiring a forty d size. To give firmness and pre-
vent the warping of the sash-bars, which, as I have said, are
of spruce, an inch strip of hard pine, running the length of
the section and binding them together on the under side,
about four and a half feet from either end of the bar, will be
found quite sufficient. A practical test of this form for sev-
eral years proves it to be permanent and very economical.
Spruce is used because it is stronger and cheaper than pine.
As every part can be got out at the mill, and can be put
together by any ordinary workman, the cost of construction
is reduced to a minimum.

A glance at the diagram will indicate some of the advan-
tages of this form for the purposes for which it is designed.
First. The position is sheltered to the utmost possible extent.
This fact not only secures a saving of more than half the
ordinary cost of fuel, but it also insures great steadiness in
the temperature and comparative safety against the accident
of frost. Second. A large, compact, square space, with but
four outside walls, is a saving in construction and in exposure
to the cold, and also by its size is a safeguard against sudden
changes. After a bright day, the earth — the whole hillside —
gets so thoroughly warm that there would be little frost even
in the coldest nights, and without fire. Third. The flood of
sunlight is, indeed, the main advantage. The paramount
importance of this condition will be acknowledged by all who
have had experience in the winter-culture of plants. By a
glance at the diagram, it will be seen that in border plant-
ing, as at ff, the ground and plants will have the direct rays
of the sun. In the use of tables, as at e e, not only the ordi-
nary space for sunlight is secured, but it is evident that the
space under the tables will have a good degree of light, —
sufficient for ferns, mushrooms, rhubarb, etc. As the ven-

100 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

tiiators lie in the line of the sun's rays very little shade is
cast, and this falls within the gutter. It may therefore be
asserted that the utmost amount of sunlight is secured for this
large hillside surface. Fourth. An ample supply of air, and
without danger of harsh currents, even in the coldest days, is
secured by the ventilators, which are at short intervals and
under easy control. An iron wire of the size of window-cord
runs the length of the house under the ventilator, to which
iron pushers are attached, at intervals of four feet, by cords
which pass over pulleys. A crank at one end of the house is
attached to the iron wire, and so draws it as to raise the entire
length of the ventilator with the utmost ease. This form is
very simple and inexpensive. Fifth. Economy of space is
apparent, as every foot may be utilized even under the
gutters.

In the diagram, water-pipes, for the purpose of heating, are
marked under the table b. In my present houses, one of
which is of nine sections up the hill, the pipes are carried up
and through the four lower sections. The ascent is sufficient
to distribute the heat very uniformly through the remaining
five sections. A single cast-iron boiler does the work of
heating a house one hundred feet by one hundred and ten
feet.

It would be well, however, in the culture of many plants, to
divide the house by glass-partitions at the standards a a a,
and thus secure small and close apartments of different tem-
peratures for the different classes of plants. The heat could
be regulated by increasing or diminishing the amount of pipe.
But I greatly regret that a first experiment in heating by hot-
air was abandoned, by reason of a defect in the apparatus.
My plan was to take the cold air from the house in a large
subsoil drain under and around the furnace, and then carry
the hot air along the lower sections and let it find its way up.
The economy in heating was clear, and the distribution of
heat was surprisingly equal, the hip in the roof and the angle
of the hill being just sufficient to cause almost an exact equal-
ity of temperature in every part. The defect was solely in
the furnace, which was poorly constructed, and emitted gas
to such an extent that the plan was too summarily abandoned.
There is no reason, however, why perfectly tight wrought-

HOT-AIR FURNACES. 101

iron furnaces cannot be used, similar to those in our dwell-
ings, and it is also perfectly easy to make the hot air of these
furnaces saturated with moisture. So far from being dis-
couraged with this method of heating, I am convinced, on the
contrary, that it is a most economical and admirable way for
heating hillside houses.

It is a, common opinion that with hot-air furnaces it will
always be found impossible to prevent dryness, dust and gas.
But, surely, we could raise a cloud of steam, if desirable, and
as for dust and gas, we may be as free from these as are our
parlors.

It is a prevailing opinion, which is supported by writers of
eminence, that air coming in contact with hot iron is vitiated
and rendered injurious to plant-life. As a matter of fact, I
have seen the most luxurious growth of grape-foliage directly
over a stove in a vinery, which was heated solely in this way.
Of course, it would be desirable to have the cold air sub-
surface-drains of large capacity, so that the volume of air and
also a small addition of fresh external air would keep the
radiating surface of the furnace at moderate heat. I dwell
upon this method of heating, which, it will be seen, is a
different application of the Polmaise system, as peculiarly
suited to this form of houses where the ascent is so decided
that it is easy to distribute and equalize the heat in every
section. My experience inclines me to believe it to be an
excellent mode of heating, and very economical in the cost of
apparatus, as also in the use of coal. And yet the exact
adjustment of hot and cold air-drains can only be determined
by experiment, and it is not to be denied that hot-water pipes
are safest to those who cannot afford to experiment.

Against this form of houses, the most serious objection is,
that it involves up and down hill work. This is an important
fact in the culture of small pot-plants, and where frequent
changes are required. In this case the extra labor required
would affect the advantages. But in the cultivation of per-
manent crops, either in sizable pots or in borders, the extra
labor of going up and down is vastly overbalanced by the
saving in labor in other directions. The objection that all
cultivators have not a hillside position, serves rather to
enhance the value of such a site, when it can be secured.

102 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

In our various culture of the soil, we must learn to take
the utmost advantages of different sites, as adapted to differ-
ent purposes, if we would secure the best results. It is
unnecessary to say that this form does not enter into compar-
ison with structures designed for ornament and pleasure.
These are for work, and not for show. They are low, the
roof being absolutely level with the hillside. The^- are very
cheap, costing at the rate $10,000 to $12,000 per acre, includ-
ing a cheap heating-apparatus. They can be run at less than
half the cost of houses situated on a plain.

The steep grade of eighteen to twenty-five degrees for the
hillside slope has been suggested. This is not too steep for
the purpose of forcing small plants. But a lower grade can
be used to good advantage, and in the case of cultivating
large trees, it is desirable that the interior should be nearly
level, so that by means of a high back-wall and the hip-roof,
a wide and lofty yet sheltered and sunny interior will be
obtained. Thus the form may be modified to suit the wants
of lettuce and the other products of the market-gardener, or,
by suitable grading and regulation of heat, to give space for
the most stately palms and other exotics. I commend the
form to all who are engaged in winter-gardening, either as
florists, orchardists or market-gardeners.

Want of space will compel me to pass other forms, and
also the interesting subject of parlor and window gardening —
a theme which deserves, and surely will receive, increasing
attention. I will conclude with a few practical suggestions.

Wood is the usual material for the roof of houses in this
country, for the reason that it is cheapest. Iron is most used
in England. It is very light and elegant, is durable, and
does not contract with cold sufficiently to cause breakage of
glass. It does, undoubtedly, conduct the heat from the house
to some extent, but when painted, the amount of loss is not
great. Wooden sash-bars are much less expensive, and will
answer every purpose for from thirty to fifty years, if kept
well painted. For ornamental structures, iron will undoubt-
edly grow in favor.

Double glazing is desirable, when a high, humid tempera-
ture is to be maintained in midwinter. For ordinary green-
house culture, it is of doubtful utility.

PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS. 103

Various experiments have been tried with different colors
of glass, and curious and interesting results have been
obtained. Yet the conclusion is, as might have been
expected, that God has flooded the planetary system with all
the colors combined in the clear white light of the sun, as
best adapted to the wants of the vegetable as well as the
animal kingdom. Clear white glass is therefore to be sought
for ordinary culture.

A simple brick furnace, with flue or pipe, will answer a
good purpose for heating a short house. Yet the ease with
which heat can be distributed, by water-pipes, renders this
method by far the most practicable in most cases. It is a
very simple matter to connect a water-tank with the boiler,
with a sufficient head of water so as to water the plants by a
pressure through the boiler when the water is tepid, as is the
case during the daytime.

For want of time we must pass the question of aeration,
the admission of fresh air, and the circulation of the air in
the house. In ordinary practice, the only concern seems to
be to let out the over-heated air.

As was said at the commencement, the winter-culture of
plants is most unnatural. It involves unremitting watchful-
ness ; an hour's neglect is fatal to the enthusiastic painstaking
of a year. But given this steady, easy, watchful care, and
we secure more certain success than can be secured by any
ordinary culture in the natural way. A winter crop of grapes
is more certain than is a crop in the open field. With atten-
tion we can command all the conditions ; we can command
success. And it is surprising what an amount can be accom-
plished in a small space. Go into any good florist's establish-
ment and you shall find such quantities of roses, and of such
quality as are seen in no open gardens in this climate. I
have ripened a ton of Hamburg grapes, in the month of
May, from a house two hundred feet long by twenty-five feet
wide, which is at the rate of eight tons per acre. To these
considerations of certainty and of quantity, add the equally
important item of quality. In our rigorous northern homes
we have domesticated all the choicest exotics of the tropics.
We sit under the shade of the orange and the palm in the
bitterest days of winter. We arrange our most delicate,

104 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

graceful and airy-like bouquets, not in the balmy days of
summer, but when the northern blast is howling in its might,
— to such a degree of success has this art been carried. That
it is a widely extending, a most worthy, most fascinating, and
a fairly profitable pursuit, is evidenced by the rapid advance
which is seen in the vicinity of our large towns. And as
furnishing healthful and delightful employment for the leisure
winter months, it is worthy of all commendation. Hence-
forth, in addition to the stimulating air of our northern
latitude, we may have the luxurious beauty and fruitfulness
of the tropics.

Col. Wilder. I have no doubt that the large audience
have been interested in the lecture by Mr. Strong, especially
that portion of them who have had any experience in the use
of glass for forwarding our crops in this rigorous climate.
For one, I feel extremely obliged to Mr. Strong, not only for
the service he has rendered, but for the faithful, practical
attention which he has given during a long course of years to
this subject ; and his suggestions, I may say, are the result of
the most careful examination. His method of heating in the
most economical way is one worthy of examination. His
structure of glass on the side of a hill, as some of us have
witnessed, and as any one can witness, is a wonder in our
northern climate, giving us summer in winter, and producing
any crop that is desired, either for the gratification of the
sight, or of the palate. I rise merely to commend the subject
to the attention of our farmers, not only for the gratifica-
tion that will arise from this work, but for the profit which
will result, managed as he has told you it can be managed.

I notice an ex-President of the Horticultural Society here,
who is familiar with this subject, and I hope that Mr. Hyde,
and some other gentlemen, will give us their views in regard
to it.

Hon. J. F. C. Hyde, of Newton. I would not venture to
speak upon this subject at all, except that Mr. Strong has
made mention of the house of Mr. Morse. I have visited his
house several times. It is principally devoted to the growing
of lettuce for the Boston and New York markets. It may not
be known to all of you that Boston supplies New York with

LETTUCE IN WINTER. 105

its best lettuce. Strange as it may seem, it is nevertheless
true. Mr. Morse's house is altogether three hundred and fifty
feet long, I should say, and perhaps more, — a part twenty-
four feet wide, and a part forty-four feet wide. It would
seem to be rather a poorly-built house. It is not constructed
nicely, and yet it answers every purpose. The object of the
practical market-gardeners has been not to have their houses
cost a great deal of money, and yet answer the purpose for
which they are designed. I would say that in Newton, where
a great deal of lettuce and many other vegetables are raised
under glass, the cultivation of those things has been, until
within a few years, almost entirely in hot-beds. This long
house runs east and west, or nearly so. It has in it two
furnaces in which coal is burned, and hot- water pipes run up
and down the house, the entire length. He has an economi-
cal way of watering ; for you will see that the growing crop
requires a great deal of water, especially in a hot day,
towards spring. You would be surprised to see the amount
of water required. Mr. Morse has a deep well of water (not
such soft water as you have in your town, and which I have
seen coming out here so abundantly in this fountain, and
which would be better for his crops), and he has a wind-mill,
so that there is no expense for pumping. The wind-mill is so
arranged as to pump the water into a tank, and it is carried
through a hose to any part of this building, so that the
expense for watering is very small indeed. The house, as I
said before, is devoted to lettuce, of which there are
two crops obtained in a season, sometimes three. He
endeavors to have a crop off by January. Then follows
another crop, which does not usually bring so high a price as
the first. He has been successful in conducting that experi-
ment, although I believe he was not so successful the first
year as he expected to be. It requires some little experience
to be successful in the management of that business. The
great object with such structures is to get the glass as near as
you can to the growing vegetables.

I might say a word more upon this subject, in relation
to the growing of cucumbers under glass. We discussed that
question a little coming up in the cars, and one gentleman
wondered how it was that there was any demand for cucum-

14

106 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

bers in February, March, or April ; but it is a fact that cucum-
bers sell well, and bring high prices, from fifty cents to a
dollar apiece, and I don't know but more, in those cool
months. A gentleman in West Newton, Mr. O. C. Gibbs,
raises a large number under glass, and the business has been
quite successful. Mr. E. A. Brackett, near Boston, was
formerly quite successful in the same business, and my friend
Col. Wilder, spoke coming up in the cars of his success in
growing cucumbers under glass, where the vines would yield
from March until September or October, giving a great num-
ber of very excellent cucumbers. I believe from what
observation I have had, and from what I have learned from
those with whom I have talked who have been successful
ingrowing cucumbers in that. way, that growing cucumbers
under glass for the market is one of the most profitable enter-
prises that can be engaged in. I am told by Mr. Gibbs that
it is exceedingly profitable, and if it is, they are easily grown
by those who know how to do it. I am told that there is
a market for all that are produced, and doubtless the demand
would increase as the supply increased. I call attention to
this, not having any practical experience myself, it is true,
but I have kept my eyes and ears open, and I think it is
a matter worthy of consideration by the farmers of the State.
Col. Wilder is posted on that subject, and I hope he will give
us his views in regard to it. If gentlemen about here can
raise cucumbers, and sell them in New York or Boston for a
dollar or even half a dollar a piece, they can make a great
deal of money, for a good many dollars' worth can be raised
on a small piece of ground. It is a pretty sort of work. It
is very delightful to go into Mr. Strong's or Mr. Morse's
houses, on a cold winter day, when the north-west wind is
blowing. It seems like going into a tropical climate, for I
see in the former many of the most beautiful flowering plants
of the tropics, and in the latter the vegetables of May or June.
Col. Wilder. I would not say a word, if Mr. Hyde had
not alluded to my experience in raising cucumbers in a hot-
bed. I have a bed sixty feet by ten, with a walk through the
middle, with a roof over it, so that I can just stand up and
walk down the middle. A brick flue runs through it, covered
with plank about a foot above the flue, and soil placed upon

CUCUMBERS UNDER GLASS. 107

that. It is in that bed that I raise all iny seedling camelias,
azaleas, and other plants that come from cross-hybridization ;
it is there that I raise all my ornamental plants for bedding,
and a variety of other things. But in addition to that, we
commence in January with asparagus, and this bed gives me
an abundance until March. I then throw the asparagus out,
and put in a few hills of cucumbers, such as "Sion House,"
"Marquis of Lome," and other varieties. I have raised one
which measured two feet and nine inches. That is too long;
but I have managed, by crossing and breeding with the "Long
Green," to reduce the size somewhat. I find that from three
hills I can supply my family with cucumbers that are from
twelve to twenty-four inches in length, from March until Octo-
ber, and I have not grown any for the house in any other way
for some years. It is astonishing to see how cheaply they
can be raised in a hot-bed. Give them water enough, and
the vines will live and continue to bear until October. I grow
none out of doors for family use, because these are so much
better, and are grown with such great ease.

Question. I will inquire whether these long cucumbers
are any more healthy than the short ones ?

Col. Wilder. Well, sir, I do not know about that; but
they are very tender.

Col. Stone, of Dedham. I am happy to inform the audi-
ence that we have with us a gentleman from Concord, who has
been very successful, I understand, in raising vegetables. We
are fortunate in having him here, and I hope we shall hear
from him. I refer to Captain Moore.

Mr. J. B. Moore, of Concord. I do not know that I have
anything to say. I will, however, say a few words in regard
to the subject which has been referred to by Col. Wilder and
Mr. Hyde, — the raising of cucumbers under glass. I will
say, in the first place, that it is not all profit. It is very
doubtful whether there is one man in the State of Massachu-
setts who makes any money by growing cucumbers in a reg-
ular green-house. Some men make money by growing them
in frames, but they do not make it by growing the long kinds.
By the way, I will mention that I grew one myself that was
three feet long. That beats Col. Wilder's three inches.

Col. Wilder. You generally beat me more than three inches.

108 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Mr. Moore. The cucumbers that market-gardeners find
the most profitable are the "White Spine," and similar
varieties. When you send cucumbers to market, a cucumber
is a cucumber, long or short. Those that are from six to
eight inches long are the most profitable ones to grow. I
think you can grow more inches of those shorter cucumbers
than you can of the long ones.

Now, in regard to growing vegetables in these low houses,
one thing is certain : that there never has been as good lettuce,
as I am informed and believe from my own observation, grown
in those houses as there has been in hot-beds, or as is grown
in hot-beds in the town of Arlington, which, perhaps, contains
the most successful market-gardeners in the State. They find
that they cannot grow as good lettuce in low houses as they
can in hot-beds. I do not know any reason for it, but it is
certainly a fact that it does not grow as well. I am not grow-
ing lettuce under glass, but I am making arrangements, as
soon as I can get an abundant supply of water, to raise vege-
tables under glass on a somewhat extensive scale. I am run-
ning a green-house. I have been to Mr. Strong's green-house
a number of times, and I found, to my surprise, a very
uniform degree of heat in that house. The house covers,
perhaps, half an acre, and the heating apparatus is all on the
lower side. I supposed the upper part of the house would
be very much hotter than the lower part, as heat rises ; but
those brakes cause a downward current of the air as it goes
up where the ventilators are, and there is a very uniform
degree of heat in that house. I was astonished to find it so.-
There is no doubt of another thing : that in a house con-
structed as that is, you have less surface exposed to the cold
air. How well I should like such a house to grow plants in
is more than I can say. It is like any lean-to house, with
different sections in the roof. I am growing my plants in a
lean-to green-house of moderate size, and am growing them
as well as I can, with the help of my son, without the assist-
ance of any professional gardener ; and I will simply say that
there is no great mystery about growing anything under glass.
The only thing is to use a little common sense, work a little
more brains, as all farmers should in cultivating their farms.
If they would use more brains and less muscle, I think they

LETTUCE UNDER GLASS. 109

would produce better results. As I was saying, it requires
no particular amount of skill to grow plants under glass. A
good many persons are deterred from having green-houses
because they think they must have a gardener. "Well, I do
not blame them. I do not want a gardener around me. As
Mr. Strong has said, have your plants pretty near the glass,
give them plenty of light and air, and enough water, and you
can grow good crops. That is about all there is to it. Give
them plenty of air during the day, not at night.

Mr. Strong. "Will you allow me one word in answer to
Mr. Moore? Mr. Moore says that lettuce has not been
grown in these low houses. I agree with him that it has not
been generally grown, but that is no proof that it cannot be
grown; and, indeed, Mr. Moore has disposed of his assertion
himself. He says he is building a house where he believes
lettuce can be grown. I am happy to be able to say that this
is not mere theory. Lettuce has been grown in these glass
houses, heated by hot water, and grown as well as in frames.
It is true that some of the experiments have been failures, but
it was because the gentlemen trying them have not been well
acquainted with the management of hot-water pipes, and they
have over-heated, and have not given sufficient air. I have
no doubt that Mr. Moore will succeed in growing lettuce to
perfection in those low structures.

Mr. Hyde. A single word, that may throw some light
upon the difficulty suggested by Mr. Moore. I have been for
years surrounded by lettuce-growers — a great deal is raised
in Newton — and the finest lettuce I ever saw was grown under
a frame in a hot-bed. The seed was sown early in November,
but the lettuce was not taken out of that frame until the first
or second week in April. Now, mark : Mr. Stone had been
all those months growing that lettuce ; it was magnificent
lettuce, truly ; I never saw handsomer. But, my friend, Mr.
Morse, has grown two crops while Mr. Stone has been grow-
ing one crop. Now, we cannot afford to grow it thus slowly,
for profit. Although Mr. Morse's lettuce is sometimes not
quite so large and handsome as Mr. Stone's, still it is large
enough to go to the New York market. Mr. Morse takes his
out early in January and February, while Mr. Stone does not
get his crop out until the middle of April, by which time Mr.

110 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Morse has a second crop ready to cut. I have never seen
any lettuce grown in a house that was as handsome as some
that I have seen grown in a hot-bed ; but still, I have no doubt
it could be grown equally handsome in a house. The reason
that it has not been is, that having plenty of heat, the growers
have forced the plants along so fast that they did not form
the large, dark-green heads that they do when grown more
slowly.

Mr. Smith. Is there any publication which gives the best
method for the construction of glass houses ? Is there any-
thing better than Henderson's?

Mr. Strong. For certain forms Mr. Henderson's book is
admirable. It is confined mainly, as I recollect it, to the
" ridge-and-furrow " form, which is very good for many pur-
poses.

Mr. Shepard. Where can we find your method ?

Mr. Strong. You can find a portion of it in the August
number of the " Gardener's Monthly " for the current year.

The Chairman. The chair Avould inform the audience that
it will be found more fully in the next report of the Secretary
of the Board of Agriculture of the State of Massachusetts,
Charles L. Flint.

ROOT CROPS AND THEIR CULTIVATION.

BY O. B. HADWKN.

A thorough knowledge of the kinds and growth of crops is
essential to the farmer's success as a means of supplying, not
only his own wants, but the best food for the stock kept upon
the farm, and the best method of cultivation.

The soil and climate of our State are found congenial to
the growth and development of crops usually termed

ROOT-CROPS.

Those of our farmers who have learned to grow them with
the greatest economy of land, labor and success, have long
since abandoned all doubts with regard to their profit, and
fully appreciate the benefit which they confer on the animals
that consume them. During the last thirty years they have
been very generally grown in some parts cf the State, not

CULTURE OF MANGOLDS. Ill

perhaps so largely as would be desired, but extensively
enough to indicate an increasing appreciation of their value.

If the keeping and feeding of live-stock upon our farms is
the basis upon which successful agriculture of long-continued
duration must rest, and the health of animals and the capacity
to digest other kinds of food is largely promoted by the
liberal use of roots, aside from the actual nourishment which
they contain, and the amount of other and more expensive
food that may be materially reduced by a liberal and judicious
use of them, the importance of root-culture is apparent.
It is found by actual experiment and practical test, that three
tons of roots are equal to one ton of hay, or in other words,
that one ton of hay and three tons of roots are equivalent to
two tons of hay, when fed to milch cows. The importance
of using a portion of roots for the most successful feeding of
stock being conceded, we will consider the kinds of roots
which are found to be easily grown and most profitable to the
farmer as field crops.

The mangolds are prominent among the different kinds of
roots grown for stock. There are several varieties, such as
the Norbiton Giant, Long Red, Yellow Globe, and new
kinds are occasionally introduced. The Golden Tankard is
of recent introduction, and is very promising. The mangold
is found not only to yield more tons' weight per acre, but
when fed to cows to stimulate a larger flow of milk, than any
of the roots commonly grown as field crops. To produce
a profitable crop of mangolds, we will describe a few
of the prominent points of value necessary in their cultiva-
tion. It is desirable to select land, preferably a sandy loam,
that has been occupied with some hoed crop the previous
season. A very liberal dressing of manure of good quality
is indispensable, if the best results are to be obtained ; it
should be ploughed under as early in the spring as the ground
is in suitable working condition, and should be cross-ploughed
with a swivel-plough, which leaves the ground very suitable
to be thoroughly pulverized and levelled with the harrow ; the
roller should now be used until the lumps of soil are broken
and the surface becomes smooth and level enough to facilitate
the perfect working of the seed-sower.

In preparing the seeds for planting, they should be soaked

112 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

in warm water thirty-six hours ; this will hasten their germina-
tion, and they will come forward before the wTeeds, which is of
the utmost importance ; it is well to sow cabbage-seed for trans-
planting, if the mangold-seed fails to come up in any portion
of the field. Any seed-sower may be used, that is adapted
to the purpose ; our practice is to run the machine in straight
rows twenty-two inches apart, the longer the rows the better
for their more economical cultivation. Straight rows are
desirable to prevent the destruction of the tender plants
when the horse-hoe is used in their cultivation. When the
plants are up, our practice is to use, between the rows, a small
hand-cultivator, for the purpose of stirring the surface of the
ground and checking the growth of weeds which will usually
be starting into growth at this time. And here we would
say, that the best time to hoe all root-crops is before the
weeds have come forward. When the plants have attained
the fourth leaf, the horse-hoe may be used in their cultivation ;
and it should be used at intervals of a few days, as frequent
stirring the soil stimulates the growth of the crop. W'hen the
plants have six leaves they should be properly thinned, and
it is of the utmost importance to thin them at just the right
time, to prevent any check of growth. The plants should be
left from eight to twelve inches apart in the rows, using the
hand-hoe, when thinning the plants, to destroy the weeds that
are between the plants. If thinning is delayed until the plants
are large, the plants left growing lop over, and some days
elapse before they assume an upright position, which time
neither the plant nor the grower can afford to lose.

The horse-hoe may be used until the leaf of the plant covers
the ground, usually by the 10th of July, and the work is over
until the harvest.

Preliminary to the harvest, it is our practice in the month
of October to strip the leaves from the mangolds and use them
for feed for cows ; they are very succulent, and stimulate the
flow of milk at this season, when otherwise there is usually a
falling off. As they have to be topped but once, the immense
amount of food these leaves furnish, free from dirt, will be at
once apparent to the practical farmer. There is no apparent
diminution in the size of the mangolds that have been deprived
of their leaves ; the harvesting is greatly facilitated ; being free

LARGE YIELDS OF EOOTS. 113

from leaf they are pulled, thrown into piles on the carts, and
taken to the cellar used for storing. They are not liable to
injury when stored in large quantities, are not liable to decay,
and keep well until the following June.

The reported yield of mangolds seems almost incredible in
England, where they are largely grown, and under the most
favorable circumstances both of climate and cultivation.
Seventy-five tons an acre is not an unusual crop, and single
specimens, weighing fifty and sixty pounds, are frequently
shown at their exhibitions. Frequently large crops of man-
golds are grown in this country. In the year 1872 the crop
grown by Hon. Albert Fearing is reported to have weighed
sixty-two tons one thousand two hundred and eighty pounds
per acre, and the year 1873 his crop was nearly as large.
From forty to fifty tons is a not unusual yield. In a crop
grown by Wm. H. Hopkins, Esq., near Providence, R. I.,
in the year 1874, the tops weighed eleven tons nine hundred
and twenty pounds, the roots fifty-two tons eight hundred
and eighty pounds, — total, sixty-three tons eighteen hun-
dred pounds.

If the farmers of the State are to pursue a better and more
remunerative course of agriculture, by increasing her stock for
the dairy for which her soil and climate seem to be best
adapted, as well as her market; if the cultivation of the
cereals is to be given up, let the mangold be cultivated as
furnishing the best root for feeding stock.

THE CARROT.

The carrot is a root well worth the consideration of farmers ;
perhaps no root is better adapted to constitute a portion of
food for milch cows, horses or swine. When fed to cows it
adds largely to the flavor and quality of the milk, with a rea-
sonable increase in quantity ; no dairyman who makes butter
or milk of the best quality would expect the best results with-
out a liberal use of the carrot. The carrot adapts itself to
most kinds of soil, but seems to succeed well on a deep loam
with a slight admixture of sand.

If it is the desire of farmers to raise large and paying crops
of the carrot, such can be produced with a great degree of
certainty by a liberal dressing of good and well-decomposed

15

114 . BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

manure to the land, which should be well ploughed in as
early in the spring as possible. As soon as the weeds have
come up the land should be cross-ploughed as fine as possible
with a swivel-plough ; the land should then be harrowed and
rolled, when it will be ready for the seed. The seed should be
soaked in warm water twenty-four hours previous to planting,
and sunned a short time to dry the surface-moisture, that the
seed may not clog in the seed-sower. The seed may be
planted with any suitable machine that will sow thin ; two
pounds of seed per acre is more than enough, if judiciously
planted ; too thick sowing results in very unnecessary and
expensive thinning; or if neglected, in a small growth of
roots, expensive to harvest and to handle.

The seed may be planted from early in May to the 10th of
June. Our practice is to plant in straight rows twenty-two
inches apart, and the plants should be thinned to three or four
inches in the row. The after-cultivation of the carrot should
be always prompt; "hoe the ground and not the weeds,"
should be the motto. The horse-hoe can be used in the culti-
vation of the carrot to a very considerable extent, and our
cultivation is very like that given the mangold. English
turnips can be sown between the rows with the seed-sower by
the 20th of July, without injury to the carrot, and will add
materially to the product of the land. There are many
varieties of carrot now grown in market-gardens, and as field
crops. We have tried nearly all the prominent sorts that have
been introduced in the last thirty years.

The Long Orange has for many years been a standard field
variety. Perhaps no kind has been more extensively culti-
vated, or has better repaid its culture ; but there are other
kinds also very desirable. The intermediate, which are shorter
but larger in diameter — a very convenient root to handle in
feeding — having a decided advantage in storage, occupying
less space per ton, and in harvesting, to be pulled by hand,
will yield a heavy weight per acre. There is also the Early
Horn carrot, a shorter and heavier root in proportion to the
size, thirty-five bushels weighing a ton ; it takes forty bushels
of the long sorts ; they can be grown closer and make less
tops than the longer sorts, and are more desirable for domes-
tic use. The white sorts are not much grown by our farmers ;

THE TURNIP CROP. 115

they yield well, but do not store and keep as well as the
yellow-fleshed sorts.

As regards the harvesting and storing the carrot, it is
important to let the crop remain in the ground as late as the
latter part of October or the 1st of November. In harvest-
ing the long sorts the labor is lessened by cutting the tops
with a sharp hoe, and raking them together and carting them
to the stables to be fed to cows and horses ; and they
are greedily relished. Carrots may be more easily dug by
running the plough on the side of the row of roots, when they
can readily be pulled by hand and thrown into piles, where,
after a few hours' drying, they may be carted to the cellar for
storage. Carrots require considerable ventilation until freez-
ing weather sets in. "When carrots are fed to milch-cows, if
an equal amount of mangolds is used, a large flow of milk
of good quality will be obtained. When fed to horses once
a clay, in the place of grain, they will be found most condu-
cive to the health and strength of the animal.

TURNIPS.

Among this class of roots for the economical feeding of
domestic animals, the ruta-baga stands preeminent. Perhaps
no root so nutritious as food for growing stock can be grown
so cheaply as the ruta-baga turnip ; it is also valuable for
domestic use and as a market vegetable. This root may be
grown by manuring in drills, as well as by spreading broad-
cast ; its cultivation may be substantially the same as for
mangolds. The season for planting is usually one month
later — June 10th to 15th — at a time when planting other
crops is over. This plant is very hardy, adapts itself to a
variety of soils, and comes to maturity in about four months
after planting, and will grow on a lighter soil and with less
manure than the mangolds. The growing of the ruta-baga is
not liable to conflict with the growing or harvesting other
crops. The harvest can be delayed as long as the ground
remains open, as they are not liable to injury by frost. In
harvesting them they are usually pulled, thrown into piles,
and the tops are cut in the field or barn. If the cellar for
storing is dry, they may be put in in large quantities without
injury, but they should have good ventilation.

116 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

The ruta-baga often yields enormous crops, sometimes
reaching as high as thirty-seven tons per acre ; an average
yield is about twenty tons. When its value is compared with
hay, it is found that four tons are equal to one ton of hay ; it
is thus a profitable root to use. Its importance as a cheap
and nutritious food for growing stock has long been realized
in Europe, and it is fast gaining ground in this country.

ENGLISH. TURNIP.

The cultivation of the common white turnip is so universal
among farmers, that perhaps I need allude to it but briefly.
No root is so cheaply grown, and none is of so little nutritive
value ; but when fed freely to young and growing stock, it
stimulates the animal to rapid development. The crop is
often grown in this State as a second crop, following pease,
early potatoes, strawberries, in fact any crop that can be
removed previous to August ; they are often sown among
corn at the last hoeing, and where any crop fails, the turnip
affords another and the last chance for the season.

The turnip should be the first root to feed in the foil or
early winter, it not being a late keeper, and it is a very poor
root to store in large bulk. They require a good soil to pro-
duce a large yield, but they may be grown at comparatively
small expense ; a piece of sward land may be turned over after
the hay has been removed, dressed with well decomposed
manure, ashes- or commercial fertilizers, and the seed sown.
They are best grown in drills twenty inches apart, but often
succeed well when sown broadcast. Rich land and a moist
atmosphere will insure a bountiful yield, which will help out
a short hay-crop.

It is most earnestly to be desired, that the farmers will be
more strongly directed to the raising of root-crops.

The cultivation of crops, which will add to the permanent
welfare and success of the farmer, and thus develop the agri-
cultural wealth of both farmer and State, by a course of
husbandry, tending to increase our stock of cattle, is to be
encouraged.

Mr. Hopkins, of Rhode Island. One point was touched
upon in Mr. Hadwen's paper that I deem of sufficient impor-

FEEDING QUALITIES OF TURNIPS. 117

tance to call to the attention of farmers who are raising man-
gold- wurzels, and that is, the practice of stripping the leaves
off before harvesting. I have raised more or less mangolds
for the last few years, and I have found difficulty in keeping
them. I have usually pulled the tops off and put them
immediately in the cellar, and, as I say, they have not kept
well. Mr. Hadwen, with whom I have talked on the subject,
says that he finds no difficulty in keeping mangolds after
storing them in the cellar. Mine commence to rot, frequently,
where the tops are pulled off. I think I have learned some-
thing from the suggestion of Mr. Hadwen, to give them a
chance to dry after stripping off the leaves, before storing
them in the cellar.

In relation to the size of crops, I would say, that I have
this year raised, on the poor lands of Seekonk, in this State,
some fifty-two tons to the acre of the red mangold, which I
think is a profitable crop for farmers to raise.

Mr. Lawton, of Pittsfield. I have been something of a
farmer, and I have raised a great many root-crops, — more than
I shall ever raise again ; and after trying the different roots
for feeding, I settled down on the ruta-baga. A great many
people who fed stock had doubts about that root making fat
or very much flesh. They agreed that it made considerable
heft in the animals fed with it, because they ate so much, but
doubted if it really made much fat or flesh. I had a barn-
cellar where I kept my roots, and after falling back upon the
ruta-baga, I used to raise a good many, — I can't tell you how
many ; but I used to fill up my cellar, and then, if I had any
more, I dug out a long trench in the field and tipped my
ruta-bagas in there, covered them up with straw and then with
dirt, and then, when I had fed the turnips all out of the
cellar, I used to dig them up and cart them into the cellar.
I used to keep sheep, sometimes as many as five or six hun-
dred, and I calculated to feed them once a day with cut
turnips, and they did extremely well. But, as I remarked in
the first place, there being a doubt as to their fattening quali-
ties, I thought I would test that point. I was fatting four
oxen with meal and hay. I took the meal from them, let them
get cleaned out well, and then I commenced with turnips.
I did not weigh nor measure the turnips, but gave them about

118 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

as much as I thought it was proper for them to eat, and hay.
I weighed the cattle after I got the meal out of them ; and
after I had fed them fourteen days with ruta-bagas, I weighed
them again, and you do not know what an enormous gain
those cattle made in the two weeks. I cannot give you the
figures now. Then I stopped feeding them with turnips for
six days, so as to get the turnip all out of them, feeding them
with nothing but hay. After doing that, I weighed them
again, so as to draw a contrast between the gain of the cattle
on hay and meal, and their gain on the turnips. I fed them
fourteen days on each ; and they filled up more, they fatted
faster, and they put on more flesh in the fourteen days on the
ruta-bagas than they did on the meal, and I fed them pretty
high on the meal ; they were fat cattle. It was just so with
all my stock, unless my lambs were an exception ; they did
better on ruta-bagas than on any other feed. I felt then, and
have felt ever since, that a crop of ruta-bagas was the most
valuable crop I could raise.

Mr. French, of North Andover. Mr. Hadweu spoke of
feeding the leaves of his roots to cattle. I would like to
know whether the value of that fodder is sufficient to pay for
the labor of carting it from the field to the barn. I have
found, in feeding leaves, that although they increased the flow
of milk frequently, it was only for a short time, and in many
cases they brought on a sort of purging in the cattle. Now,
I want to know whether it would not be more profitable to
allow the leaves to remain on the land, and thus restore some
of the constituents that have been taken out of the soil, than
to use them as food for cattle.

Mr. Hadwen. The leaves of the mangold should not be
fed to excess, but in moderate quantity, and in that season of
the year we usually feed a little hay. I have fed them to
milch cows to increase the flow of milk, and have experienced
no bad results. I have followed the practice for several
years, and there is no question in my own mind that it is labor
very profitably expended. The amount of leaves from an acre
of well-grown mangolds is very considerable. Mr. Hopkins
informs me that he took eleven tons nine hundred pounds
from an acre. Now, the practical question is, whether they
are worth saving. It is well known to those who feed cows

FLAVOR THE MILK. 119

giving milk, that in the month of October there is usually a
very great falling off in the milk, and quite a change in
temperature from day to day, and the leaf of the mangold
seems to pave the way for the cabbage which we feed after-
wards.

Question. I would like to ask how you feed cabbage, at
what time, and whether it affects the milk?

Mr. Hadwen. Cabbage and turnips, and everything of
that nature, having flavor, should be fed immediately after
milking. You will then experience no flavor in the milk.

Question. I would like to ask Mr. Arnold's view upon
the subject of feeding cabbage and turnips to cattle?

Mr. Arnold. I believe it is the general experience, as it
is mine, that you cannot get rid of the odor or flavor of
turnips, no matter what time you feed them, but a great deal
more of the odor is got rid of by feeding, as Mr. Hadwen has
recommended, immediately after milking. It makes quite a
material difference. The odor is quite volatile, and escapes
long before the food circulates much in the system ; but
neither the turnip nor the cabbage can be entirely got rid of.

Question. Does scalding the milk help it?

Mr. Arnold. Scalding the milk will remove the re-
mainder.

Col. Stone. The question was, whether the expense of
collecting the leaves and feeding them out was not greater
than the value of the material if left on the land.

Mr. Dillon, of Amherst. I would not contest anything
stated yesterday by Mr. Arnold ; but we are here to state our
experience, and I wish to say that my experience confirms
Mr. Hadwen's rather than Mr. Arnold's. Last year, we
raised quite a large quantity of ruta-bagas, and as soon as they
began to go to the barn, my wife began to taste the flavor of
turnip in the milk ; but that was a good fortnight before we
began to feed them, and after we did feed them, she never
found any fault, nor did any one else. Our butter sold for
the very highest market price all through the winter, when
the cows were fed with ruta-baga. I never could detect the
slightest taint, and I never could find any one else who could.

Mr. . That has been my experience. I have, for

a long course of years, fed ruta-bagas for milk, and I have

120 BOAKD OF AGRICULTURE.

never had any body complain, who has eaten butter at my
house, that there was any turnip in it.

Mr. Hyde. I think I will venture to say, that no man can
make butter from the milk of cows fed with cabbage or turnip,
no matter how small the quantity, that I cannot detect it. I
keep Jersey cows, — not a herd, it is true, I am not rich
enough for that, — and I have fed them everything with the
greatest care, feeding them only after milking, for that is the
orthodox way ; but I could never feed them without detecting
the flavor. I do not believe it is possible for any man to feed
them so that I shall not detect it. I do not feed turnip-tops
for that reason. I taste the turnip in the milk, and if we
make butter, I taste it in the butter. I can detect it the very
next milking after the cabbage or turnips are fed.

Question. Has the gentleman ever tasted Mr. Arnold's
butter that has been made after scalding the milk ?

Mr. Hyde. I have not.

Mr. Dillon. I would say that very great care must be
exercised to prevent cows from getting turnips between meals.
If great care is not taken they will occasionally get a little
piece, and a very little piece is enough to flavor the milk. If
you cover the turnips with hay a cow may very easily miss a
piece in the morning, and she may get it about three o'clock
in the afternoon, and then you will have the turnip taste. I
have tried the experiment of feeding turnips, and with the
greatest effort of which I was capable I could not detect any
flavor in the milk, and the products of the milk were sub-
mitted to several persons of very critical taste, and they said
that they could not detect any flavor.

Mr. . I have had a little experience in selling milk

for some years past. I have sometimes fed a very few
cabbage-leaves and turnips immediately after milking, never
telling my customers ; but I have never fed them two or three
days in succession without their finding fault with the taste
of the milk.

Mr. "Wheeler. I did not intend to say a single word
on this subject, but cabbages and turnips have been put
together as equally objectionable. Now, there are several
milkmen here from Worcester, and we raise a great many
cabbages and feed them constantly. We supply some of the

FEEDING CABBAGES AND TURNIPS. 121

best families in the city of Worcester with milk, and we have
never heard a word said against cabbages ; but the moment
we feed turnips we hear from it. I think confounding the
cabbage with the turnip is all wrong. I believe no taste of
cabbage will be discovered in the milk.

Question. Is the quantity of cabbage limited, or do you
allow your cows to eat as much as they please?

Mr. Wheeler. I should be willing to feed my cows four
times a day, and let them have all they would eat ; I am
confident I should never hear from it. I think that cabbages
make as good milk as Indian corn. That is my experience.

Mr. Stone. We have a gentleman present who has the
reputation of being one of the best butter-makers in Norfolk
County, and who has had a large experience in all these mat-
ters. I should be happy to hear from him, and I have no
doubt others will be. I refer to Mr. Cheever.

Mr. Cheever. About two weeks ago I was at Faneuil
Hall Market, in Boston, at Mr. Hovey's stall, with some
butter that I brought in there, as I do every week, and a
gentleman came in soliciting custom. He brought in a sample
of his butter to show Mr. Hovey. I was introduced to him,
and he asked me to taste of his butter. Said I, "Do you feed
any cabbage?" "Yes," he said, "I feed a great deal of it."
Said I, "I thought so." The only taste I found in his butter
was the taste of cabbage.

Mr. Hyde. I should like to hear from Dr. Lorins:, who
has had a great deal of experience in feeding.

Dr. Loring. Mr. Hyde has requested me to give my views
and experience upon root-culture and root-feeding, and I am
glad to do it, because for fifteen years that has constituted a
large part of my business as a farmer. I keep a large herd
of cows, as many of you know, and endeavor to make from
them the most milk I can, in an honest way. I have the
usual temptation of wrells of water around me, but I desire
to resist that temptation, if I can, being entirely confident
that milk tainted a little with cabbages and turnips is prefer-
able to milk diluted with water.

Now, in regard to the general business of root-culture, I
will say that it is not a thing that can be accepted by whole-
sale, by any manner of means. The assertion that a farmer

16

122 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

having a large herd of cows can make more milk out of them
by feeding largely with roots, than he can by feeding hay,
shorts and meal, is not universally true. It depends entirely
upon his location, the character of his land, the labor required
to raise a crop, and upon the price of corn and fine feed in the
market at the time he is making the milk. I have at certain
times abandoned the feeding of roots to my cows almost
entirely, because I found corn in the market so cheap that I
could feed it more economically than I could roots, and I
simply used roots enough to keep the cows in good health.

As to the question what root is the most economical to feed,
I have no doubt that Mr. Lawton is right, and that the
Swedish turnip is the best root that the farmer can raise for
all practical purposes. For young cattle, for sheep, for
young horses, for driving horses, for milch cows, for working
oxen, and all fat cattle, the Swedish turnip is the best thing
we can raise on our farms. I have given it a pretty wide
range, for I have tried it on all of them. I know perfectly
well that any young animal, yearling, or two-year old, can
be made to grow more rapidly during the winter season
by feeding it a peck and a half or half a bushel of Swedish
turnips every day, or every other day, during the winter,
than by any other food. It keeps them in good condition, in
good health, and continually growing. Mr. Lawton's ex-
perience with regard to feeding turnips to oxen corresponds
with that of others. The English farmers who feed in that
way produce the same results, and I have tried it in my own
operations with similar success.

With regard to the feeding of the Swedish turnip to horses,
I believe there is nothing equal to it in the way of benefit to a
young horse or a working horse. I can raise a better colt
upon good English hay and Swedish turnips thau any man can
upon good English hay and oats ; and I speak with reference
to the value of the colt when he reaches maturity. I can keep
a moderately driven or moderately worked horse better upon
English hay and Swedish turnips, in the winter season,
and bring him out better in the spring, than I can upon Eng-
lish hay and any kind of grain which a horse will eat. I have
had young horses come from the pasture into my stable late
in the autumn, in poor condition, as colts will sometimes,

THE SWEDE FOR HORSES. 123

especially if left to run a little too late ; have fed them
nothing but hay and Swedish turnips, and have found nothing
equal to that feed to bring them up, smooth down their hair,
take all the swelling out of their legs, bring a bright look
into their eyes and give them a constant and rapid growth.
I have now in my possession a horse which I bred myself; he
is now thirteen years old, and never in his life, from the first
of December until the first of May, has he eaten a quart of
corn, or any grain. I undertake to say that he is the best
horse in Massachusetts to-day, and that is saying a great deal.
If any of you ever read the book prepared by Rev. Mr.
Murray, on "The Perfect Horse" (he is known in that book
as "Jim"), you will remember a most enthusiastic paragraph
w it h regard to "Jim's" performances. I have always found
him ready to take me out, either in single or double harness,
for a ten-mile drive and back again. He is always ready to
work, and never has been lame or sick. This horse is a fair
specimen of what can be produced by this way of feeding. I
suppose that more than fifty gentlemen, from one end of this
State to the other, have come to my stable to look at him,
put their hands upon him, and examined him critically in every
wray, to determine what the result of this method of feeding
has been, and he has never been found in such a condition that
a practical man would not say that he was in as good con-
dition as ever he found an animal to bo in his life. I have
iioav on my hands a good many colts, yearlings, part of which I
have bred, and some of which I have purchased, which I have
brought into good condition this autumn and winter, so far,
by the use of Swedish turnips. I recommend them, there-
fore, as especially valuable to any man engaged in the busi-
ness of raising horses ; a business, my friends, which, when
accurately and carefully followed, is as profitable as any
branch of business known to the farmer. I do not mean to
say it will always succeed ; it is attended with great risks ; but
it is one which no intelligent farmer should ever shut out
of mind, especially on the hilly pastures and among the good
springs of certain sections of Massachusetts.

For milch cows I assure you that half a bushel of Swedish
turnips, properly fed, at proper times, not continuously, will
make more milk than a half bushel of any other roots I have

124 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

ever raised. I do not ask what flavor they will give to the
butter, as I do not make butter, like Mr. Hyde ; I eat it, and
let other people make it. I have not the slightest doubt that
Mr. Hyde is right. With all due respect to Prof. Arnold,
I think that when you take from the milk its various fatty
matters, including the volatile oils, you will get with them
a certain flavor of the food which the animal consumes ; I
have no doubt that it will also appear in the cheese ; but in
milk made for the market, and carried to market in a proper
way, I think there is no doubt whatever that the flavor of
turnips can be entirely and thoroughly concealed, so that the
most delicate palate will not discover it. I have no doubt
about it, and I would not, therefore, be without the Swedish
turnip. It is the cheapest root to raise. It may be planted
when you are not planting anything else, and upon land where
neither the carrot nor the mangold-wurzel will grow at all ;
and it is easily kept from the time you put it into the barn
until the grass comes on in the spring for the cows to feed upon.
With regard to the mangold-wurzel, my experience has
taught me that perhaps a little too high value is set upon it
in this country, for the want of an intimate acquaintance
with it. It is not a hard root to keep, because, as Mr. Hop-
kins has said, if you top it properly, place it in heaps in the
field, and allow it to be four or five clays, until it has
sweated, — you can cover it with leaves to keep the frost off
(and that, by the way, is the very best use to which you can
put mangold-wurzel leaves), — it will keep about as well as
any leaf you can find. But it is a hard root to raise. It
requires the best land you can find. I have no desire to
criticise any of Mr. Arnold's statements, because what he has
said is so near the truth that I do not desire to differ from
him, but I doubt whether a sandy loam will raise a large crop
of mangolds. A good, strong, rich clay loam will raise
mangold-wurzels which will Aveigh, as my friend Colonel
Wilder said to-day, a hundred and eighteen pounds, and be
as big, as he said, as a man ought to be. But it requires a
tremendously strong soil to raise a good crop ; there is no use
in denying it. It requires the most powerful nitrogenous
manures and strong soil. It is not, therefore, a root which I
would universally recommend to the farmer. It is very well

CARROTS VERSUS RUTA-BAGAS. 125

to have a certain portion, as a change, but I would not recom-
mend it as one of the great leading crops.

With regard to carrots, I have long since abandoned the
growing of them at all. I have tried them over and over and
over again, for the purpose of making milk, and I never got
a quart of milk from all the carrots I ever fed in my life. I
got more disgusted with them than I did with half-grown
fodder-corn, a good deal. And with regard to making fat,
they will not produce fat to the extent that Swedish turnips
will, at all. As to feeding them to horses, I consider a horse
weakened, enervated, softened by carrot feed, the meanest
brute that stands on this earth. I don't want him in my
stable at all. I cannot drive him from my house to my farm
(which is only two miles distant) and back, without his being
in a wash of sweat, and I cannot dry him in twenty-four hours
after he gets into the stable. A more bloated and disagree-
able-looking beast than a horse fed on carrots, I never have
seen. So I have abandoned carrots. It is a hard crop to
raise. The boys have got to crawl on the ground in hot
weather to weed them, you must hunt them with a spy-glass
for a month after they come up, and when you get them into
the barn, the chances are ten to one that the crop is not half
so great as you expected.

These are, in brief, the results of my experience. The
ruta-baga stands foremost among the root-crops. If sown
about the middle' of June, upon warm lands, a little light in
their character, with a proper supply of well-decomposed
manure upon the surface, and supplied with the best super-
phosphate you can get in the drill where you put your seed,
my word for it, you will have a good crop, and one you will
never repent having raised. Carrots I would abandon for
ever. The mangold-wurzel I would treat as I have said ;
raise a small crop and use it simply as a change, and neglect
the leaves entirely. I could no more afford to keep my men
hauling mangold-wurzel leaves into the barn to feed forty
cows, after milking in the morning, than I could afford to set
them at work picking up gravel-stones in the road, in order
to enable me to drive over a smooth road. The leaves are
good enough, if the cows will pick them up, but you cannot
afford to cart them to the barn.

126 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

With regard to feeding cabbages to milch cows, that is
something I never do, unless my cabbage crop is a failure.
If I have raised a crop of cabbages that I cannot do anything
else with, I give them to the cows in the autumn ; but I
should no more think of raising an acre of cabbages for the
express purpose of feeding them to cows than I should of
raising an acre of tobacco for that purpose. In the fii'st
place, cabbages do not keep well. You cannot store them in
the cellar, and keep them until spring, to make green fodder
for your cows ; that is impossible : you must feed them in
the autumn, when your cows can be just about as well
engaged in cropping the meadows and fields and getting their
fall feed, without any trouble to you. When cabbages are
selling well, they bring from seven to eight dollars a hundred,
which is equivalent to two hundred and seventy-five or three
hundred dollars an acre, and at that rate a cabbage crop is
a profitable crop to raise and carry to the market ; and never
until they are down to two or three dollars a hundred, or
your crop is a failure, not worth gathering for the purpose of
carrying to market, can you afford to feed them to cows.
With all humility and modesty, I think a farmer ought not to
elevate himself to the raising of cabbages for the purpose of
feeding milch cows. They do not, as I conceive, come into
the great economy of agriculture. I would not, therefore,
class them among those products which the farmer would
naturally raise for the purpose of feeding his cattle.

I have thrown out these few hints with regard to root-crops
because I was asked to do so, not because I desired to take
up any time, for I know it can be better occupied by other
gentlemen here.

Question. I want to ask Dr. Loring if he has had any
experience in raising parsnips for cows? It has been recom-
mended in some parts of Europe very highly.

Dr. Loring. The parsnip crop is an exceedingly difficult
crop to raise. We cannot get in this country, for some reason
or other, a satisfactory crop of parsnips. If you store them
in the cellar, by midwinter they have wilted and become
corky, dried up, and are utterly unfit for the purpose of feed-
ing. I do not think the parsnip comes into the general range
of root-crops for actual feeding at all.

DIFFERENCE IN TASTES. 127

Question. How often do you drive "Jim"?

Dr. Loring. I do not mean to say he is a hard- worked
horse in winter. I suppose he is driven every day in the
winter-time, — ten miles, perhaps.

Question. How do you think it would operate if you
drove him fifty miles a day ?

Dr. Loring. Not at all. I did not intend to convey any
such idea. I was drawing a comparison between turnips and
other feed for horses not over-worked. If a horse is at work
on a stage-coach or a baggage-team, or is used by a physician
in large practice, or if he is driven fifty miles a day, as the
gentleman says, — which we cannot do down our way, — I should
keep him on grain. If you expect a horse to take fifty or
thirty mile drives every day in the week, you must keep
him on grain. Those are not what would be called store
horses.

Mr. Arnold. I only wish to say that I suppose a great
many people here will be surprised to see such a difference of
opinion manifested in a matter of so plain an experience. It
is just what I meet with, gentlemen, almost everywhere I go.
I find just as much difference in other places as I see here
to-day on the subject of turnips. The fact is, there is an
immense deal of difference in the tastes of people, where the
thing is the same. I notice that there is a great difference in
the tastes of people who use a great deal of stimulating food,
or a great deal of the staple article of Westfield and Connec-
ticut (tobacco). Every little while I come across people who
can taste no difference between butter made from bluejrrass or
June grass, as you call it here, and clover. The difference is
just as plain to me as cau be. I have seen people taste of
turnipy milk, and say it was all right. When I came to taste
of it the turnip flavor was just as plain as could be. But my
taste is kept acute. I am so constantly coming in contact
with dairy products, in which it is necessary for me to dis-
criminate closely, that I avoid in my habits anything that
would have a tendency to blunt my taste, and I can detect
what other people do not. It is not at all strange that people
should have such a different experience, from that peculiarity.
That is sufficient to account for the different conclusions which
have been arrived at here.

128 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Question. I would ask Mr. Arnold if he does not con-
sider the tops of any root-crop worse in regard to flavoring
milk than the root itself?

Mr. Arnold. That is usually the case. The top of almost
every plant has more flavor than the root. That is not
exactly true of the onion, but it is generally true.

Mr. Ellsworth, of Barre. I would like to say a word on
this subject. I have been making lump butter, for some four
years, for market, and it has the reputation of being very
good butter. I have practised raising roots of all kinds, and
feeding them to my stock, for making butter. I have fed
forty bushels a day of English turnips, tops and all, and
made butter that went to Mr. Hovey, in Boston, and was
sold, probably, to as good a set of customers as most of them,
and I never heard any complaint that my butter tasted of
turnips. This last year, I have sent my butter to Worcester,
and it has been consumed in as good families as there are
there, and when my cows were eating forty bushels of turnips
a day, tops and all ; I have never heard from that source a
word of complaint, that my butter tasted of the root. But I
shall hereafter watch carefully that Mr. Hyde does not get a
taste of my butter, if I want to keep on telling the same
story. I do not undertake to say that the flavor cannot be
detected by the most delicate and acute taste, but I do not
want any gentleman who is making milk or butter for market
to be discouraged from raising roots, because I do not think
there are enough of that class of people to make any trouble.
It may be detected by a few, but the number will be so small
that that fact ought not to discourage any man from raising
roots for dairy stock.

Adjourned.

THIRD DAY.

The Board met at ten o'clock, Hon. J. F. C. Hyde in the
Chair.

The first subject on the programme was the " Breeding and
Management of Swine," and the discussion was opened by a
paper on

HARRIS ON THE PIG. 129

THE PIG AS A MANURE AND MEAT MAKING ANIMAL.

BY JOSEPH HARRIS, OF ROCHESTER, N. Y.

My old friend, the Deacon, thinks it will not pay to feed
"merchantable" grain to hogs. And while I have repeatedly
disputed this position and given facts and figures to show that
it frequently happens that we can better afford to feed our
corn and even wheat to well-bred pigs, rather than to sell it
at the market price, still it must be admitted that, as a rule,
the true office of pigs, on a farm, is to use up and economize
food which would otherwise be wasted or sold at alow figure.

Keeping the idea steadily in view, we shall find in practice
that to fully utilize this low-priced or refuse food, it is often
necessary to feed more or less of what the Deacon calls
"merchantable" grain; or even, as in my own case, to go
into the market and buy the food best suited to our wants.
Now while it may be true that the actual increase of the pork
produced by this purchased food will give us little or no
profit, still we can so manage that the purchased food and
the food which would otherwise be wasted, taken together,
will afford very satisfactory results.

For instance, it may not pay a farmer to shut up a pig in
summer and feed him nothing but corn-meal and bran. But
if he has refuse food, or if the pig runs in an orchard, or in a
clover pasture, and thus picks up sufficient cheap food to
sustain the vital functions, then Ave can well afford to feed all
the merchantable grain that the pig will convert into pork.

I feel that it is not necessary to enter into details, but I may
allude to another way by which we can utilize our cheap or
refuse food, and at the same time feed merchantable grain to
great advantage. We can keep breeding sows during six or
eight months of the year at a cheap rate. If a good sow has
ten pigs, she will furnish them all the food they need till three
weeks old, and for five or six weeks longer, if a good mother ;
the sow will take from her own body forty or fifty pounds of
flesh and fat previously stored up for this purpose, and stored
up from cheap food. With this, and with a little cooked corn
or oat meal and skimmed milk, the pigs will grow rapidly
till, say two months old. They are then weaned. Up to this
17

130 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

time this litter of ten pigs has cost comparatively little. For
the next two months the little pigs would need the richest and
most easily digested food that can be given them. The first
month they would eat about one pound of corn-meal a day,
thoroughly cooked and made into gruel. The next month
they would eat one and a half pounds each per day. At the
end of the eight weeks the ten pigs will have eaten seven
hundred pounds of corn-meal, and probably about one hundred
pounds before they were weaned, say eight hundred pounds
in all, costing, at two cents a pound, $16.

I do not know what ten such little pigs would sell for,
averaging, say fifty pounds each, dressed, but I think they are
as well worth fifteen cents a pound as common mutton is
worth eight cents. At this price, we get $75 from the litter,
which has consumed $16 worth of corn. It may often happen
that young pigs are so scarce and high that we can sell them
as store pigs to better advantage than we could fatten them at
this early age. But all that this proves is, that we get more
than they are really worth. For my part, I do not know of
any branch of farming that would pay better than to raise
such pigs and sell them at four months old for $7 or $8 a
head. And, I am very sure, that if such an article was fairly
introduced, it would be in great and increasing demand.

And I am equally sure, that we can breed pigs that will
dress, on an average, more than fifty pounds each at four
months old. I showed a pen of five pigs, four months old,
at the New York State Fair, that weighed within a fraction
of one hundred pounds each. These were thoroughbred, but
I could do full as well, if not better, with grades.

We are afraid of competition from the West, — wherever
that may be. But, I am inclined to think, that by studying
the wants of our markets and by paying more attention to
quality, we shall be able to hold our own. We must aim to
produce choice meat and rich manure.

I will not say we can make more money and more manure
from pigs than from any other stock. But I think there are
few farms where more or less pigs cannot be kept with
advantage. A pig will produce more flesh and fat from a
given amount of food than any other of our domestic
animals, — at any rate, far more than either sheep or cattle.

INSIDE FAT. 131

This is owing to the fact that a pig, in proportion to live-
weight, will eat, digest and assimilate much more food than
sheep or cattle ; and in addition to this, the food we use for
fattening pigs is richer and more concentrated than that we
give cattle and sheep. I think it is now generally admitted
that there is great economy in giving fattening animals all the
food they can eat, digest and assimilate. But there are few
breeders, even yet, who seem to realize the importance of
aiming to breed animals that will eat and digest a large

© © ©

amount of food in a given time.

When Bakewell sold his improved Leicester sheep to the
butchers, they complained that while the sheep appeared very
fat externally, and were so in fact, yet when they killed them
they found comparatively little inside fat. I find this to be
the case with Cotswolds and their grades as compared with
Merinos.

I think it will be found that a well-fatted Texan steer has
more inside fat in proportion to total weight than a Shorthorn
or Devon. In a state of nature animals store up fat on the
kidneys while food is abundant. During a period of scarcity
this fat is used to sustaiu the vital functions and supply
animal heat.

But our improved breeds have been taught that their wants
are regularly supplied. They have as much and as good food
in winter as in summer and autumn. When they have learned
this lesson, they use their daily food for their daily growth,
and consequently grow with great rapidity. I think this is the
starting-point of all real improvements in animals destined
exclusively for human food. It seems to me strange that the
old breeders attributed fattening qualities to form, rather than
the form to fattening qualities. They mistook cause for
effect.

In many of our breeds of cattle, sheep and pigs, we have
pushed the improvement of form, fineness of bone and light-
ness of offal to near its utmost limit. We have aimed to
lessen the demands on the stomach by breeding away as much
as possible all useless or less valuable parts of the animal.
The next improvement to be made is to increase the digestive
powers of the animal.

Last winter I was cutting fodder with an endless chain-

132 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

power. The feed-cutter was designed for three or four horses.
When we commenced cutting it so happened that we had only
one horse on the power, and, while we were waiting for the
other horse, I started the machine to "warm it up." I found
that the one horse would just keep the machine and feed-cutter
running. That horse might have worked hard all day and
not cut a pound of fodder ; all the power would have been
used up in running the machine. We put on another horse,
and then we could cut a certain amount of feed in a given
time. By putting on a third horse we could cut as fast again.
In other words, one extra horse cut as much fodder as the
other two.

Professor Miles, of the Michigan Agricultural College,
found, in one of his experiments in feeding pigs, that one pig
during the month ate forty-eight and a half pounds of corn-
meal and lost one pound. Another ate fifty-one and a half
pounds and gained four pounds. Another ate one hundred
pounds and gained nineteen and a half pounds. All three of
the pigs were allowed as much as they would eat. But two
of them had poor appetites or weak stomachs, and the two
together ate no more food than the third pig ate alone. The
result was that the one hundred pounds of corn eaten by the
two pigs gave three pounds of pork, while the same amount
eaten by the other pig of the same age gave nineteen and a
half pounds. The forty-eight and a half pounds of corn eaten
by the one pig was barely sufficient to run the machine empty,
while an extra fifty-one and a half pounds eaten by the other
pig produced about twenty pounds of pork. Now, if Ave
could breed pigs that would eat and digest one-third more
food, why should we not double the increase? In other
words, why should not one hundred and fifty pounds of corn
give us forty pounds of pork? I fully believe that this can
be done. But we shall not accomplish it until we aim to
breed pigs that have great digestive powers.

Two or three years ago I discussed the question as to how
much pork existed in one hundred pounds of corn. Some of
the steamer men made such extravagant claims that I wanted
to see exactly how much pork there was in a pound of corn.
I knew very well that no amount of cooking or fermenting
could get more food out of it than it contained. But I found

EXPERIMENTS ON PIGS. 133

it not an easy matter to find the necessary facts. The real
difficulty is to ascertain how much food the animal requires to
sustain the vital functions and keep up the animal heat. It
doubtless varies greatly in different breeds and in different
animals of the same breed. An animal that was restless
would require more than one that was quiet. A "learned"
pig would require more than one that had no aim in life but
to eat and sleep. But leaving out these considerations, I
attempted to solve the question by an examination of the
composition of the pig before and after he was fattened, and
of the food he had eaten.

Before commencing their experiments on pigs, Messrs.
Lawes & Gilbert selected out a fair average pig and analyzed
him. He was found to contain 23.3 per cent, of fat. At the
end of ten weeks, when the pigs were fat enough for the
butcher, another pig was analyzed, and found to contain 42.2
per cent, of fat. The actual material stored up by the pig
while fattening contained G3.1 per cent, of fat.

Indian corn is exceedinglv rich in available carbon. It con-
tains say sixty-eight per cent, of starch and seven per cent, of
oil. In nutritive value one pound of oil is equivalent to two
and a half pounds of starch or sugar. Corn, therefore, con-
tains, besides nitrogen, nutriment equal to eighty-five and a
half per cent, of starch, or thirty-four and one-fifth per cent,
of oil.

Now, assuming that a pig has eaten just enough food to
sustain the vital functions and supply respiration and animal
heat, how much pork can we get out of the corn eaten over
and above this amount?

The store pig analyzed by Lawes & Gilbert was, I believe,
about nine months old, and weighed ninety-four pounds. He
contained twenty-two pounds of fat. How much that pig
had eaten I do not know ; but, after he had eaten all the food
necessary to sustain the vital functions, sixty-four and a half
pounds of corn contain sufficient carbon to furnish all the fat
he had stored up during the nine months.

And there can be little doubt, with ordinary current foods,
the test of their value as food for pigs is the amount of avail-
able carbon that they contain ; in other words, their value is
in proportion to the starch, oil and other digestible carbona-

134 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

ceous matter. Of course, the more nitrogenous matter we
get in addition the bet cr. But still, our foods for fattening
pigs are much more likely to be deficient in available carbon
than any other constituent. For every pound of nitrogenous
matter found in a fat pig, the pig has probably consumed ten
pounds in its food. Of mineral matter the excess in the food
is even still greater. For our present purpose, therefore, we
may confine our attention to the available carbonaceous matter
in the food. It will be seen that one hundred pounds of corn,
over and above the food required to susta'n the vital functions,
is capable of producing one hundred and forty-six pounds of
"store" pig.

After the pigs had been shut up to fatten ten weeks, Lawes
& Gilbert killed and analyzed another pig from the same
litter as the above. He weighed one hundred and eighty-
five pounds and contained seventy-eight pounds of fat.

The amount of corn required to produce this one hundred
and eighty-five pounds of fat pig, therefore, over and above
the amount required to sustain the vital functions, would be
two hundred and twenty-eight pounds ; or, one hundred
pounds of corn would produce eighty-one pounds of fat pig.
Of the actual growth in live-weight of the pig shut up to
fatten, it will require, over and above the food required to
sustain the vital functions, one hundred pounds of corn to
produce fifty-four pounds of increase. In other words, two
pounds of corn will produce a little more than one pound of
increase.

I think these figures are worth looking at. I can hardly
think it is good economy to keep a pig nine months to get
ninety-four pounds of live-weight. Some people seem to
think that it is necessary to keep pigs in a "store condition"
to enable them to lay up flesh. They think if we kept them
fattening from the start we should get little lean meat. I do
not think there is any truth in this idea. This store pig
analyzed by Lawes & Gilbert contained, in the carcase,
eight pounds two ounces of dry, lean meat. After fattening
ten weeks longer, his brother contained fourteen pounds one
ounce of dry, lean meat. In other words, nine months of
store feeding give us eight pounds of dry, lean meat, and ten
weeks of fattening feeding give us six pounds. We get less

CONSTANT HIGH FEEDING. 135

than four ounces per week of dry, lean meat during the nine
months when the pig was "growing," and over nine and one-
half ounces per week while the pig was fattening. I cannot
but think, therefore, that more liberal feeding while the pig is
growing would not only be much more economical, but that
we should get more rather than less lean meat.

I have had pigs at six months old that weighed more than
this fat pig at eleven and one-half months old. I presume
they would not differ greatly in composition. As before said,
one hundred pounds of corn is capable of producing eighty-
one pounds live-weight of such a pig. Now this pig, weigh-
ing one hundred and eighty-live pounds, dressed one hundred
and forty and one-half pounds, a shrinkage of twenty-four
per cent. And so it follows that one hundred pounds of corn,
over and above that required to sustain the vital functions, is
capable of producing over sixty-one pounds of dressed pork.

Now, what we want to ascertain is the amount of food
required to sustain the vital functions. Dr. Miles, the able
professor of agriculture in the Michigan Agricultural College,
has favored me with the results of some of his experiments on
pigs, commencing August 30, 1870. Four of the pigs were
of the common " native " breed, about four months old when
shut up, one pig in a pen to fatten. They were allowed all
the corn-meal they could eat, moistened with water. On the
average, the pigs ate twenty-six and one-half pounds of corn-
meal per head per week, and gained a little less than four and
one-half pounds. This is six hundred and thirteen pounds of
corn, or about eleven bushels, to produce one hundred pounds
of increase. And it was a poor kind of increase at that, for
the pigs did not fatten ; they merely grew in bone and muscle.
After the termination of the experiment they were turned out
to be kept to fatten the next fall.

The average weight of the pigs when four months old was
sixty-seven and one-fourth pounds, and at the termination of
the experiment, when they were about eight months old, the
average weight Avas less than one hundred and thirty-seven
pounds. It is evident that they were then in no better con-
dition than Mr. Lawes's analyzed "store pig." And it is not
probable that the increase contained over thirty-four and one-
fourth pounds of fat per cent. So that four and one-half

136 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

pounds of corn per week would be capable of producing the
increase obtained from the consumption of twenty-six and
one-half pounds. Twenty-two pounds were used to sustain
the vital functions, and four and one-half pounds for increase.
In other words, eighty-six per cent, of the food was used to
sustain the vital functions, and fifteen per cent, to produce
growth.

In experiments made by Dr. Miles the previous year on a
pair of fine-bred Essex pigs about eleven weeks old, fed, as
these "natives" were, for sixteen weeks on corn-meal, it
required only four and one-third pounds of meal to pro-
duce one pound of growth. On the average, the pigs ate a
little less than twenty-two and one-half pounds of corn per
week, and gained a little over five pounds per week.

These Essex pigs grew very fat, and we may safely con-
clude that the increase differed little in composition from the
composition of the increase determined by Lawes & Gilbert.
As we have seen, it would require one hundred pounds of
corn to furnish fifty-four pounds of such increase. It follows,
therefore, that of the one hundred pounds of corn eaten to
produce twenty-three pounds of increase, about fifty-seven
pounds were used to support the vital functions, and forty-
four pounds to produce growth.

In other words, the "native" pigs ate twenty-two pounds
of corn each per week to keep them alive, and the Essex pigs
less than thirteen pounds, or eighty-five per cent, in the one
case, and fifty-seven per cent, in the other.

The Essex pigs,- when well bred, are remarkably quiet.
And this accounts, to a considerable extent, for the small
proportion of the food required to sustain the vital functions.

It will be observed that the natives eat more food than the
Essex. This, so far from being, in itself, an argument in
favor of the Essex, is an objection.

If the Essex pigs in Dr. Miles's experiments had eaten as
much as the natives : and if, as I assume, they require no
more to sustain the vital functions in that case than in the
other, it is quite certain that they would have grown and
flitted even more rapidly than they did. The natives ate
twenty-six and one-half pounds of corn-meal per week. The
Essex ate less than twenty-two and one-half. Now this

ECONOMY OF FOOD. 137

four pounds of corn is capable of producing over two pounds
of increase, and instead of gaining five pounds from a con-
sumption of twenty-two and one-half pounds of corn, they
should have gained seven pounds from a consumption of
twenty-six and one-half pounds. This is a pound of growth
for less than two and three-fourths pounds, or about fifteen
pounds of growth from a bushel of corn.

Whether such a result can be obtained in practice is yet to
be determined. I think a pig could be bred that would do
even better than this. Converting the starch and oil of corn
into animal fat ought not to be such a wasteful process as it
now generally is.

In fattening pigs our first object should be to reduce the
demands on the stomach for food to "run the machine." We
should keep the pigs warm, dry, quiet and comfortable.
Damp, cold, wet and dirty pens greatly increase the amount
of food required to keep up the necessary heat of the body.
Irregular feeding induces restlessness and indigestion. If
two pounds of corn, over and above that required to sustain
the vital functions, is capable of producing a pound of dressed
pork, we should understand that every extra two pounds of
corn required to keep up the heat of the body in a cold, damp
pen, is an actual loss, not of two pounds of corn, but of a
pound of dressed pork.

And the same is true in regard to restlessness and the
unnecessary production of offal. How much we lose in this
way is shown by Dr. Miles's experiments. The restless and
ill-bred native pigs required twenty-two pounds of corn per
week to "run the machine," while the well-bred Essex pigs
required only thirteen pounds. Both lots of pigs had all the
food they would eat, and both were kept in like conditions.
The difference is mainly due to the restlessness of the ill-bred
pigs ; nine pounds of corn per week were used up in producing
unnecessary motion. And, as before said, this is not a loss
of nine pounds of corn merely, but a loss of four and a half
pounds of good, dressed pork.

The next point to be looked to in fattening pigs is to give
them all they will eat, digest and assimilate. Well-bred pigs,
I think, will usually assimilate more than they will cat and
digest. We should, therefore, aim to secure a good appetite.

18

138 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

We should not only feed at regular hours, but should give the
pigs no more than they will eat up clean, being careful, at the
same time, to give all they will eat. This is an easy thing to
do on paper, but very difficult in practice.

Provided a pig can digest and assimilate an extra pound of
corn-meal a day, if we can induce him to eat it, he ought to
gain an extra half pound of pork. It is here that cooking
food can be employed to great advantage. But I think we do
not always get full benefit from cooking food, because we do
not feed young pigs often enough. Good corn or oat meal
gruel is "very filling," but it does not last long. It is more
easily digested than uncooked grain, and the stomach should
be more frequently replenished.

There are hogs which can eat and possibly digest more
food than they can assimilate. For such hogs we do not need
to cook grain. If a farmer has such a race of hogs, he should
select out some of his best sows and cross them with a fine-
boned, quiet, thoroughbred boar. He would stand a good
chance of getting in the offspring the appetite and digestive
powers of the sow united with the quietness of disposition,
the fineness of bone and smallness of offal of the boar, and
more or less of his powers of assimilation. If such is the
case, he would have pigs that would eat more food and gain
more rapidly, in proportion to the food consumed, than the
thoroughbreds. I think there is money to be made in raising
and fattening such pigs, even without taking the value of the
manure into consideration.

But I should by no means overlook this item : all good
farmers need manure, and the better they farm the more
manure they need. Now, I do not say that pigs will make
more or better manure than any other animal. In one sense
there is no difference. The value of the manure depends on
the food consumed. You cannot get more nitrogen, phos-
phoric acid and potash out of a ton of corn than it contains,
whether you feed it to hens, pigs, sheep or cows. You may
get a little less when fed to milch-cows or growing sheep than
when fed to pigs or chickens, but the difference is so slight as
not to be worth taking into the account.

The question is often asked, "Can we buy artificial manures
as cheaply as we can make manure on the farm?" For my

MANURE FROM DIFFERENT FOODS.

139

part, I want to make all the manure I can, and to buy all the
artificial manure my purse will warrant, always provided it is
of good quality and sold at a reasonable rate. I think we
shall use more and more artificial manures every year. Still,
I think it can be shown that we can get nitrogen, phosphoric
acid and potash, by feeding animals, at a much cheaper rate
than in artificial manures. The only reason why we can afford
to use the artificial fertilizers is, that the nitrogen and phos-
phoric acid are in a more available condition.

Professor S. W. Johnson, after a thorough examination of
the subject, estimates the nitrogen in artificial manures as
worth thirty cents a pound, potash seven cents a pound, solu-
ble phosphoric acid sixteen and a quarter cents, and insoluble
phosphoric acid six cents a pound. If we estimate that the
animal takes out ten per cent. Of the nitrogen, and that we
lose seven per cent, from leaking, evaporation, etc., we shall
have twenty-five cents' worth of nitrogen in the manure for
every thirty cents' worth in the food.

A ton of corn-meal contains thirty-six pounds of nitrogen,
and consequently we should have nine dollars' worth of nitro-
gen in the manure.

The ton of corn-meal also contains seven pounds of potash,
worth seven cents a pound, or forty-nine cents. It also con-
tains phosphoric acid equal to twenty-two and u half pounds
of phosphate of lime, which we will consider worth six cents
a pound, or $1.35. The total value of the manure obtained
from the consumption of a ton of corn, therefore, is $10.75.
On the same basis, —

e manure

from a

ton of oats, . . .is worth $12 10

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of wheat, . . "

11 94

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of barley, . . "

10 64

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of pease, . . "

20 54

a

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of fine mill-feed, . "

22 76

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of coarse middlings, "

24 00

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of bran, . . . "

24 32

it

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of malt-combs, . "

30 23

a

a

of clover-hay, . "

15 82

(<

((

of wheat-straw, . "

4 57

it

(.(

of oat-straw, . . "

. 4 87

140 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

The manure from a ton of pea-straw, . . is worth $9 35

" " of meadow-hay, . " . 10 65

" " of mangold-wurzel, . " 1 70

" " of potatoes, . . " . 2 73

" " of linseed-oil cake, . " . 31 96
". " of decorticated cotton-seed

cake is worth, . . 45 26

I am now feeding my own pigs on malt-combs, bran and
corn-meal. The malt-combs cost fifteen cents a bushel, weigh-
ing about twenty-five pounds, or $12 per ton. The bran costs
$22 per ton. The corn-meal $38 per ton. We mix about one
hundred pounds of malt-combs, fifty pounds of bran, and fifty
pounds of corn-meal with eighty gallons of water, and steam
it till well cooked. This mixture contains about seventy-five
per cent, of water, or about as much as green clover.

Pigs from six to eight months old eat about twenty pounds
of this mixture each per day, and gain about eight pounds
per week. The pigs eat each per week seventeen and a half
pounds of malt-combs, eight and three-quarters pounds of
bran, and eight and three-quarters pounds corn-meal. The
food, therefore, costs thirty-seven and a half cents per week.
I think the eight pounds of increase in live weight would be
equal to si^ pounds of dressed weight carcass, so that each
pound of dressed pork costs me six and a half cents per
pound. But what of the manure ?

The manure from 17^ lbs. of malt-combs is worth 26^ cents.

Total,

In other words, I am getting forty-one and three-quarters cents'
worth of manure from each pig per week, the food of which
costs me thirty-seven and a half cents.

I thought I was making a fair profit out of my pigs ; but I
did not know till my foreman and I made the foregoing calcu-
lations, that we were doing quite so well. The figures have a

from
from

8f
8f

bran
corn-meal

(C

101 ««

4.3 a

t •

. 41| cents.

WAY TO DIG A CELLAR. 141

cheerful look, and it is pleasant to feel that one is getting
rich, even if it is only on paper. Unfortunately, the money
I have to pay for malt-combs, bran, etc., is no small item.
This is real and tangible. There is no chemistry about it.
The dollars disappear, and it requires some faith to see them
in that heap of manure in the barn-yard. Still, I suppose
figures will not lie. I have revised the calculation, and if
nitrogen is worth thirty cents a pound, phosphate of lime
six cents, and potash seven cents, it is evident there is money
to be made in raising and fattening pigs.

It is not an easy matter to save all the manure from pigs.
I have in the above calculation allowed for a loss of seven
per cent. ; on many farms, I presume, seventy per cent, loss
would be nearer the truth. The food of cows and sheep con-
tains a large proportion of woody fibre. This is voided in the
fasces. But the food of pigs contains very little woody fibre ;
nearly the whole of the food is digested, and consequently we
get a small amount of solid fasces aud a very large proportion
of liquid manure. Now, a pound of nitrogen in the urine is
worth- more than a pound of nitrogen in the crude, undigested
matter found in the fasces. And this is true to a still greater
extent in regard to phosphoric acid. Professor Johnson, we
have seen, estimates soluble phosphoric acid at sixteen and a
quarter cents per pound, and insoluble phosphoric acid at six
cents. The nitrogen and phosphoric acid in the manure from
pigs, therefore, is usually worth much more than that in the
manure of cattle, sheep and horses. It is worth, probably,
about as much as that found in hen-manure. In the hen-
manure, however, it is an easy matter to avoid loss, but in
pig-manure there is so much water that it is necessary to take
special pains to prevent its running to waste. If we can save
the urine of pigs, it will be fouud a very active and powerful
manure. On my own farm I keep on an average about one
hundred and fifty pigs. I have not yet used dry peat or muck
as an absorbent, but I propose to do so. I use more or less
dry earth about the pens, and I have two cellars that are only
partly dug out. I keep twenty or thirty pigs in each of these
cellars, and we wheel out the saturated earth from time to
time and use it as manure.

This is an economical way of digging a cellar. We gather

142 BOARD OF. AGRICULTURE.

everything on the farm that can be used for bedding, — such
as potato-vines, leaves, etc., — and it is astonishing what a mass
of manure can be made in this way. Then we save all the
droppings of the horse-stable, and use it for bedding the pigs.
I need hardly say that horse-droppings, saturated with pig-
urine, make a powerful manure. We cut all our straw and
corn-stalks into chaff, and we find that this cut straw makes
far better bedding than long straw. It absorbs more liquid,
and the manure is more easily handled.

There is great improvement yet to be made in the manage-
ment of barn-yard manure. The fact recently brought out by
the experiments of Lawes & Gilbert, that a pound of nitrogen,
in the form of ammonia or nitric acid, has a far greater effect
on the crops than a pound of nitrogen in barn-yard manure,
shows that we should aim to ferment our manure before using
it. Mr. Lawes has grown wheat every year on his experi-
mental wheat-field for thirty years. One plot has received
fourteen tons of barn-yard manure per acre every year, and
yet the produce from this plot is no larger, and frequently
not so large, as from the plots receiving a few hundred pounds
of artificial manures containing far less nitrogen, phosphoric
acid, potash and other elements of plant-food. Since 1852
some of the plots have received the same manure, year after
year. During nineteen years the average yield on these plots
was as follows : —

Wheat per acre. Straw per acre.

Plot 5. — Mixed mineral manure alone, . 17 bush. 15 cwt.
" 6. — Mixed mineral manure and 200

lbs. ammoniacal salts, . . 27 " 25 "

" 7. — Mixed mineral manure and 400

lbs. ammonaical salts, . . 36 " 36 "

" 9. — Mixed mineral manure and 550

lbs. nitrate of soda, . . 37 " 41 "

" 2.— 14 tons farm-yard dung, . . 36 " 34 "

The fourteen tons of farm-yard manure contained about
eight thousand five hundred and forty pounds organic matter,
eight hundred and sixty-eight pounds mineral matter, and
two hundred pounds nitrogen. The four hundred pounds of
ammoniacal salts and the five hundred and fifty pounds nitrate

LA WES AND GILBERT'S EXPERIMENTS. 143

of soda each contained eighty-two pounds of nitrogen ; and it
will be seen that this eighty-two pounds of nitrogen produced
as great an effect as the two hundred pounds of nitrogen in
barn-yard manure.

Similar experiments have been made on barley, with even
more striking results. The plot dressed with three hundred
pounds of superphosphate of lime and two hundred pounds
ammoniacal salts per acre produced as large a crop as four-
teen tons of farm-yard manure. The average yield of barley
for nineteen crops, grown on the same land each year, was
forty-eight bushels and twenty-eight hundred weight of straw
per acre on both plots. In other words, forty-one pounds of
nitrogen, in ammoniacal salts, produced as great an effect as
tivo hundred pounds of nitrogen in farm-yard manure/ Dur-
ing the nineteen years one plot had received one hundred and
sixty-two thousand two hundred and sixty pounds of organic
matter, sixteen thousand four hundred and ninety-two pounds
of mineral matter, and three thousand eight hundred pounds
of nitrogen ; while the other had received only five thousand
seven hundred pounds of mineral matter and seven hundred
and seventy -nine pounds of nitrogen, and yet one has pro-
duced as large a crop as the other.

Why this difference? It will not do to say that more nitro-
gen was applied in the farm-yard manure than was needed.
Mr. Lawes says : "For some years an amount of ammonia
salts, containing eighty-two pounds of nitrogen, was applied
to one series of plots, on barley ; but this was found to be
too much, the crop generally being too heavy and laid. Yet
probably about two hundred pounds of nitrogen was annually
supplied in the dung, but with it there was no over-luxuriance,
and no more crop than where forty-one pounds of nitrogen
was supplied in the form of ammonia or nitric acid."

It would seem that there can be but one explanation of
these facts. The nitrogenous matter in the manure is not in
an available condition. It is in the manure, but the plants
cannot take it up until it is decomposed and rendered soluble.
Dr. Voelcker analyzed "perfectly fresh horse-dung," and found
that of free ammonia there was not more than one pound in
fifteen tons ! And yet these fifteen tons contained nitrogen
enough to furnish one hundred and forty pounds of ammonia.

144 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

"But," it may be asked, "will not this fresh manure decom-
pose in the soil and furnish ammonia?" In light, sandy soil
I presume it will do so to a considerable extent. We know
that clay mixed with manure retards fermentation, but sand
mixed with manure accelerates fermentation. This, at any
rate, is the case when sand is added in small quantities to a
heap of fermenting manure. But I do not suppose it would
have the same effect when a small quantity of manure is mixed
with a large amount of sand, as is the case when manure is
applied to land and ploughed under. At any rate, practical
farmers, with almost entire unanimity, think well-rotted
manure is better for sandy land than fresh manure.

As to how rapidly, or rather how slowly, manure decom-
poses in a rather heavy, loamy soil, the above experiments of
Mr. Lawes afford very conclusive, but at the same time, very
discouraging evidence. During the nineteen years thirty-
eight hundred pounds of nitrogen and sixteen thousand four
hundred and ninety-two pounds of mineral matter in the form
of farm-yard manure were applied to an acre of laud, and the
nineteen crops of barley in grain and straw removed only
three thousand seven hundred and twenty-four pounds of
mineral matter and one thousand and sixty-four pounds of
nitrogen. The soil now contains, unless it has drained away,
one thousand seven hundred and thirty-six pounds more
nitrogen per acre than it did when the experiments com-
menced. And yet forty-one pounds of nitrogen, in an avail-
able condition, are sufficient to produce a large crop of barley,
and eighty-two pounds per acre furnished more than the
plants could organize.

I have not time to discuss this matter ; but it is certainly
well worth considering whether we cannot discover some
method of fermenting manure so thoroughly without loss that
the nitrogen which it contains shall be rendered soluble and
available before it is spread on the land. The soil is so con-
servative that when it gets hold of manure it is very slow to
part with it. It holds it with almost a miserly grasp. The
practical difficulty in fermenting manure, without loss, is to
keep it moist enough without allowing any of the liquid to
leach out. If this can be accomplished, the more we reduce
our manure by fermentation the better.

PHILOSOPHY OF BREEDING. 145

And it is here where pigs can be used to great advantage.
The solid faeces from pigs do not readily ferment. They con-
tain little nitrogen. The nitrogen, which is the active agent
in fermentation, is found in the urine. If pigs are fed on
rich, nitrogenous food, and the urine is added directly or
indirectly to the manure-heap, consisting of horse, cow and
sheep droppings, it will greatly improve the whole mass. If
properly managed, the heap will steadily ferment all winter
and be in good condition for use in the spring, even for man-
golds or potatoes. How far we can carry the fermentation to
advantage, and under what conditions, is a point yet to be
determined.

Mr. Harris's paper was followed by an essay on

THE LAW OF INHERITANCE; Or, THE PHILOSOPHY OF
BREEDING.

BY DR. E. LEWIS STURTEVANT, OF FRAMINGHAM.

It is now nearly three years since I made my first attempt to
write a work on the breeding of domestic animals. I had
collected a considerable mass of information, chiefly so-called
facts, and it seemed an easy matter to bring these into shape
for the illustration of principles which could be enunciated as
laws. I soon, however, realized the difficulty of using this
material to produce an harmonious result, as the grouping was
not only arbitrary, but the laws which they were intended to
illustrate were but empirical formulas, whose mutual connec-
tions could not be shown. I therefore determined to seek,
through further study, a solution for my difficulties ; and I
may here say that my realization of the importance of force
as fashioning the phenomena of vitality came entirely from a
series of inductions. The facts were grouped under laws
which seemed to formulate the conditions under which they
occurred, and these laws, in turn considered as unities, pointed
unmistakably to a superior law, which in its turn influenced
their occurrence, — the law of persistence of force. This
brief paper is not presented in order to prove a theory,
but as an outgrowth arising from the supposed recognition
of a cause.

19

146 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

The cell was taken as the groundwork of my scheme, for
microscopic study had familiarized me with these unities of
vitalized structure, and belief in a reign of law had led me to
a firm conviction that the working of natural law was univer-
sal ; and if completed structure was governed by any power,
then the individual parts of that structure must be influenced
by the same ruling. Hence the search after truth must be
from the simple to the complex, rather than the reverse.

Every change of matter must be produced or caused by
some previous condition, for every effect must have its cause.
This which accomplishes is called a force, and the change
is the measure and exponent of the force used. Force is,
therefore, a conception of a real existence, which, although
unseen to our eyes, and not cognizable to our senses, can be
studied from its effects, for these are seen and recognized,
and may be grouped ; they can in turn be converted into
the unseen, and again be reconverted into the seen, and,
through modern science, so measured and accounted for,
that it may be said with certainty, forces are indestructible.
Forces are also strictly subject to the law of quantity.
A given quantity of one force can produce a definite
quantity of another. The conversion of a force may change
its apparent character, and the phenomena produced by
the two forms may be widely different. This is illustrated
in heat and motion, electricity and magnetism, animal and
vegetable life.

Like causes produce like effects when acting in a similar
manner on similar material. We know that forces may be
represented by forms, and that difference of form will indi-
cate a difference in the construction of the force.

Force is the agent which produces changes. It has, as a
conception, a numerical value and a direction of action. It
can, therefore, be increased or diminished, and its direction
may be interfered with or antagonized by other force. The
concrete force is the equilibrium of all these opposing forces.
Any change must be produced by an equivalent change in the
force which is represented by the object undergoing change.

This work is but applying the doctrine of persistence of
force to vitality, as it has already been applied to physics.
The forces governing vitality, chemistry and physics, must

SCIENCE OF BREEDING. 147

needs be but forms of the same force. Nature seems to work
always under law, and her phenomena, in successive group-
ings, continually point to governing laws, and these in turn
to others, until we must conceive of one great final law, in
infinity, to which all others are subordinate.

INTRODUCTORY.

In the higher classes of animals our first knowledge of the
individual life is of the union of two germs, — the one fur-
nished by the female, the other by the male. The product of
this union is a determinate one, and is influenced in a varied
degree by multitudinous causes, the more proximate of which
are parentage and environment, and the more remote the
antecedents of the individual and the race.

The creation of the individual and the fixing of a type for
a domestic breed is, under law, largely within the power of
man, and the understanding of the action and reaction of law
on law, in the production of certain ends of animal structure
and function, constitutes the science of breeding.

The science of breeding is not necessarily an exact science.
It deals with concrete phenomena, and its predictions must
be, in the main, general. By acting in conformity with its
predictions, the probabilities of the successful attainment of
our ends in the individual is very largely increased ; when
individual knowledge of the laws of causation is understand-
ingly applied to the problem of breeding certain results from
an animal of known antecedents, the probabilities of the posi-
tion have a near approach to certainties.

The scientific breeder is one who applies the laws governing
the art with an understanding of the reasons upon which his
expectations are based ; while the practical breeder is one who
follows rules established by experiment and belief for the
government of produce and production. It is as the art of
breeding is united with the science that the best results may
be expected ; and practice is dependent on science for its
correctness and the enlargement of its usefulness.

To the believer in causation — a principle which underlies
the practise of all science — the animal structure and func-
tion is a result produced by, and in conformity to, law ; and
were the whole history of all the forces which have taken part

148 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

in the production of individual animals so laid out before a
mind capable of investigating the process, and which could so
estimate their various values as to project them in a mechani-
cal form, a figure could be drawn in which the resultants of
the forces could be represented by a line, which would inva-
riably indicate the value of the concrete forces which would
be the contribution of the parties to reproduction. This is
to say that certainty of result would follow complete and
exact knowledge, and the corollary is equally obvious, that
when we have uncertainty in practice, it can be explained by
the deficiency of our knowledge.

To demand this complete knowledge is to demand a mind
which is infinite to our present conceptions ; but it is in our
power to continuously encroach upon the borders of our igno-
rance, and, while extending the boundaries of our knowledge,
gain increased control over the forces of nature.

The study of physics, or philosophy applied to nature, to
me, at least, indicates the possibility of "spontaneous* gen-
eration." But as this doctrine, so reasonable in itself, is the
subject of so much prejudice, and not as yet satisfactorily
demonstrated, we may at present claim that life is always
derived from preexisting life. The terms which we apply to
this derivative process are reproduction and generation. The
word reproduction is general in its meaning, and includes the
history of the changes which take place in the organs and
functions of the individual, by means of which new matter is
formed, as well as the production, growth and development
of the new germs which make their appearance through gen-
eration. The word generation, strictly speaking, has refer-
ence only to the changes immediately following the act of
begetting, but usually includes somewhat of the past history
of the separate cells which take part in this process, as well
as some history of the development of the new life thus
formed. The generative process appears to consist essen-
tially in the union of the contents of two cells, or the differ-
entiated product of one cell, by which the germ of what may

* Spontaneous : I use the word in the sense of produced without any special cause
or method being assigned, as of the appearances of life without any evidence of its
being produced from an existing vitality, — that is, the convertibility of forces. To
use the word as if it involved the production of life without cause, or not in accord-
ance with law, would involve an absurdity of thought.

ORIGIN OF LIFE IN THE CELL. 149

become an independent life is the result. Development is the
sequel to generation.

The reproductive process in itself consists in the formation
of certain cells from preceding cells through well-defined
procedure. It may be by subdivision, by gemmation, or
through the intervening act of generation. When, by sub-
division or by gemmation, each act of development appears
to diminish the germinal capacity ; when, by generation, the
germinal capacity appears to be renewed. By subdivision is
meant the method of multiplication of cells, which, for a time,
may retain their juxtaposition ; by gemmation, the forma-
tion of cells which are to be cast forth, the commencement of
a separate existence. The reproductive process includes the
repair of injuries and the increase and renewal of parts.
Growth may be the sequel to reproduction.

Life may be said to commence with the cell, for it is only
at this stage that we ordinarily recognize individuality. In
the higher animal structures, as in the mammalia, we have
the whole structure either built of or derived from cells, pre-
senting a most varied and complex appearance as viewed in
their completed state, but which, when studied with reference
to their history and development, are seen to be all derived
from this same formative element. Each cell is or has been
at some time, within certain limits, an individual and inde-
pendent whole, in which the vital processes are or have been
repeated ; as in one, so in all. Although presenting this
apparent individuality, yet, in the animal structure, these
separate units are all combined, each with all, to form the
harmonious whole, — the animal life.

The study of the cell is the foundation from which the
science of breeding is to be built up, for natural law is univer-
sal and simple and unvarying, acting on all alike, but its
actions disguised by environment. That the law may be seen
in its primal force, it is necessary that its workings should be
sought for amid the simplest conditions and amongst the least
complexity of structure.

THE CELL.

The cell proper, or the ideal cell, is a homogeneous and
extremely simple structure, which may be defined as merely

150 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

substance within an enveloping membrane. Within a cell we
usually expect to find a nucleus, or, possibly, within the
nucleus another cell, which we call a nucleolus. These inner
cells are almost invariably of a round or oval form, offer greater
resistance to the action of chemical agents than do the exter-
nal parts, and are those parts which are the most constantly
found unchanged. The nucleus seems less connected with
the function and specific office of the cell, according to
Virchow, than with its maintenance and multiplication as a
living part.

For the existence of the cellular element, such as we are to
consider, two things are requisite, — the membrane and the
nucleus. The contents change according to position and
function. With these two forms, — the membrane and the
nucleus, — we are enabled to examine critically the basis of
some of the phenomena attending life.

In the embryouic state we can readily detect the time when
the whole structure is composed of cells, and as we pass
onward towards birth, we see these cells changing their form
and function, becoming differentiated as it were, in an increas-
ing ratio with the age. The cells multiply, change their form
and their function, which necessarily involves their contents,
until in the grown individual it is difficult to trace the connec-
tion between these elements in the various parts. The cells
change, but while the activity of the cell remains, the nucleus
can usually be detected. The muscle-cells become elongated
and become filled with contractile matter, and capable of
transmitting force ; the nucleus remains attached somewhere
to this cell and is unchanged. So with the nerve-cells ; the
contents differ from the muscle-cells, and it is but the nucleus
which remains to indicate the kinship. We also find changes
going on in the shapes of cells by outgrowths, by division, by
absorption, and even by secretion and growth. These cells
containing nuclei are, in fact, individual units of a living
organism, and themselves containing life and undergoing vital
processes, go to make up the concrete life we recognize in the
formed animal.

As the processes which these vital unities pass through are
all allied, Ave can consider some of the laws of reproduction, as
derived from the study of the simple or ideal cell, leaving our

CELLULAR DEVELOPMENT. 151

considerations concerning generation until we shall trace the
union of the sperm and germ cells, and are prepared to study
the development resulting therefrom. We can the better
proceed in this course, if it is continually borne in mind that
the cell is in a certain sense an independent being, and rules
arbitrarily over certain surrounding limits. In some tissues,
where there are intercellular substances, each cell rules, as
pathological investigation shows, over its own defined terri-
tory. In other tissues in which the cells are contiguous, each
cell can run its own course without the fate of the cell lying
next to it being necessarily linked with its own. In a third
tissue we find the cell-elements more intimately connected
with each other : as, for instance, a stellate-cell may anasto-
mose with a similar one, and in this way a reticular arrange-
ment may be produced similar to that seen in capillary-vessels
and other analogous structures. Yet even in this chain-work
of cells, individual cells, in consequence of certain internal
or external influences, undergo certain changes confined to
their own limits, and not necessarily participated in by cells
adjoining. ( Virchow. )

Each cell in its development reproduces itself. — The manner
of the development need not concern us in this place.
Although primarily the ideal cells are in form alike, yet
through the differentiation arising from complexity of struc-
ture, we see existing cells of apparently widely different
origin. We have, for instance, the hepatic-cell , columnar
epithelium, cells of connective tissue, muscle-cells, nerve-
cells, etc., etc. In the animal organism there is a continual
using up of tissues. The food passing into the body supplies
the material for supplying the wastes, and cells absorbing
their share at the necessary time reproduce or repair their
form or their substance. That form of epidermic cells found
in the nail produces nail-cells ; epithelial-cells, epithelium, etc.
When the hand is cut the muscles unite by their own appro-
priate tissue ; the skin heals in a like manner. When the
nail is injured the remaining cells multiply themselves, as in
growth, until the injury is more or less repaired. Remove
the nail-cells, and the surrounding cells are unable to develop
themselves into nail.

Each cell in its development is affected by its environment. — If

152 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

the development takes place under circumstances that resistance
is less in one direction, they may shoot out in this one direc-
tion, and become elongated. This is well shown by columnar
or cylindrical epithelium, or by transitional epithelium, as named
by Henle, when the cells acquire points, jags and projections
in the direction of least resistance, and in the epithelium of
the skin. Making a section of the skin, we invariably find
flat and closely-packed cells in the epidermis, with the cells
on the innermost layer less flattened, and with nuclei. The
further we advance inward the smaller do the cells become,
the last of them standing in the form of little cylinders on the
surface of the papilla? ; the epidermic cells being an advanced
stage of growth, in process towards desquamation, the inner
layers the formative cells, as shown by the nuclei. Patho-
logically, this law is illustrated by cancer-cells, which, like
the corpuscles of pus, take their rise from the preexisting cells
and nuclei of the texture or organ in which the new growth
originates.

The influence of environment is conclusively illustrated by
the study of the development of some fungi, whose spores
are vegetable cells analogous to the animal cell.

When the spores of pencillium crustaceum are scattered on
a substance having the same chemical composition as that
from which it was taken, a new crop of pencillium crustaceum
is the result.

Now, sow these spores on distilled water, and they swell
up and finally burst, with the expulsion of a great number of*
minute bodies called zoospores, which finally develop into a
plant which has been named leptothrix.

If these same spores are put under the surface of a liquid
rich in nitrogen, the zoospores expelled develop into a micro-
coccus; if the liquid is poor in nitrogen, a cypto-coccus is
developed.

If these spores are sown in milk, which is a fluid rich in
nitrogen, we have a micro-coccus appearing, but as the milk
sours by lactic acid being formed, the zoospores instead of pass-
ing into a micrococcus form, change to an arthro-coccus.
If, again, a pencillium-spore germinates on milk just below
the surface, we have another form called oidium lactis.

If, again, a pencillium-spore is sown in fermented wine or

LAW OF INHERITANCE. 153

beer, wherein all the sugar has been converted into alcohol
and carbonic acid, we have still another form, mycodiuua
acetis.

Each cell appears to reproduce itself as it is at the time,
and we thus have development at corresponding periods. The
fitness of each portion of the body for its present requirements
is in this manner secured ; and on this principle of a like
inheritance can be explained the marvellous fact that each
portion of the body is adapted to its cooperation with other
portions of the body. Were distant progenitors as powerful
in their influence on the progeny as others more near, the
animal, instead of its present harmony of construction and
function, would be an inharmonious mass of independent
vitalities. We find, in accordance with this law, that in the
embryo, parts appear which are fitted for offices and relations
which are future. If, as appears to be the case, each cell
reproduces itself, and is also in turn affected by environment,
it would be in effect a denial of the persistence of force, as
Herbert Spencer observes, to expect that A can become A1,
and still produce the same progeny as if it were still A.
We may have, then, in a cell constant change, with a contin-
ual reproduction of the original, and thus a definite point may
be fixed, through inheritance from the past, for each cell to
acquire those functions for which it is suited. Adaptation,
therefore, comes through the influence of forces acting in the
past, and its presence is not only determinate, but is explained
by philosophy.

As each cell reproduces itself as it is, including the varia-
tions brought about by inheritance and otherwise, it seems
reasonable to suppose that as all the body stands in relation
of environment to each cell, and produces changes which, in
turn, are transmitted, — cause and effect, persistence of force,
irrevocable laws, — so the spermatic cell has the power of trans-
mitting all the inherited variations brought about by the
totality of the individual, including his past. Inherited
variation or persistence of force seems a more philosophical
hypothesis, nay, I will say theory, than pangenesis.

In those cases of repair after injury, as is noticed by Paget,
in an adult animal, when a part is reproduced after injury, it
is made in conformity, not with that condition which was

20

154 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

proper to it when it was first formed, or in its .infantile life,
but with that which is proper according to the time of life in
which it is reproduced. In the reproduction of the foot or
the tail of the lizard, they grow, as it were, at once into the
full dimensions proper to the part, according to the age of
the individual.

Each cell appears to be limited in its powers of w definite
expansion, and thus some connection is constantly preserved
between the early embryotic cell and the future progeny.
That is, as Paget well expresses it, the capacity of assuming
the specific organic form cannot be communicated to an indefi-
nite quantity of matter, for undoubtedly there is a consump-
tion of power in each organization of new matter, and in the
growth and maintenance of those parts already formed. We
have thus in the primal force a natural limitation. This repro-
ductive force appears stronger in the young than in the old,
and it would, therefore, seem as if the formative power is
more diminished by growth than by mere maintenance. But
again, as our author observes, the capacity for the repair or
reproduction of injured parts is much more diminished by
development than by growth or maintenance of the body ;
that is, much more by those transformations of parts by which
they become fitted for higher offices, than by the multiplica-
tion or maintenance of those that are already perfect in their
kind and function. In other words, to improve a part requires
more and more perfect formative power than to increase it
does.

Changes may originate in a cell from cessation of force. —
If the cessation be final, we have destruction of form, or, as
we say, dead matter. If partial, an incompleteness, or a
check to the development of the new cell may result.
The forces which originate a cell, and which are contained
within the new cell, appear to principally affect the devel-
opment, while growth is largely from forces derived through
nutrition. This law of cessation of force oftentimes obscures
the presentation of other laws, especially the laws of sim-
ilarity.

The cell is an entity, containing within itself its peculiar
forces, derived through inheritance and from its environment.
The forces must be derived from somewhere, for energy can-

EEPEODUCTION OF CELLS. 155

not be created.* Life is potential, — that is, endowed with
energy. Its every manifestation proceeds from the utilization
of force. Inheritance is but an expression of a local fact,
included in the phrase persistence or correlation, conservation
or convertibility of force. It can, therefore, be studied in its
relations to law.

Like produces like in the cell ; for we have in the new cell
but another expression of the parent cell, brought about from
and through the transference of force. As every force acting
on a cell must produce some effect (for cause and effect are
correlative, of necessity), we needs have changes produced
through environment, and the cell in which these changes are
produced cannot be the same cell as it was previous to such
changes, and can, in the line of transference of force, but
reproduce itself as it is. There must needs be, then, in the
cell a series of reproductions, in order to gain development.
As another sequitur, we have limits to the power for repro-
duction, for work can only be performed by the use of energy,
and each change in a cell is an expression of work performed
or energy used ; and when the changes demanded by environ-
ment are too great for the remaining forces of the cell, and
new forces cannot be assimilated from elsewhere, there must
be a cessation of reproduction, and in time a destruction of
form.

THE SPERM.

In considering the cell, we remarked upon the functions of
the nucleus as tending rather to the maintenance and multi-
plication of the cell, than to its specific office. In the sperm
we shall have occasion to again refer to this important prov-
ince of the nucleus.

The semen — or the contribution of the male animal towards
the generation of offspring — consists essentially of the sper-
matozoa. Besides this, the product of the testicle, the
ejected fluid contains the secretions of other glands, which
probably serve the purposes of dilution for the fluid in which
the spermatozoa move. Certain it is, from the beautiful
experiments of Mr. Newport, that impregnation does not take
place until the spermatozoon actually comes in contact with
the ovum, and penetrates within its substance.

* That is, formed from nothing, — an inconceivable proposition.

156 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

The spermatozoon differs in aspect in various animals. In
man it is a perfectly clear, hyaloid, filamentous body, in which
a dilated portion called the head may be observed, from which
is prolonged a tail or filament, which generally tapers to an
extremity hardly visible from its tenuity. The head, or
larger extremity, is flattened from side to side, and of a con-
ical form, the pointed extremity being anterior. The sper-
matic filament of the bull is somewhat similar, but the blunt
portion of the oval is anterior, and there is a tendency to
exhibit a darker anterior and a clearer posterior portion. In
the rat and mouse the head or body of the filament is unsym-
metrical and curved. In the common cock the heads are
oblong and considerably elongated ; in the common sparrow,
wavy. In the common perch the spermatozoa exhibit a
rounded head ; in the river crawfish the filaments radiate
from the circular head, and are numerous.

When the spermatozoa have escaped from the male pas-
sages their active movements commence, and, by the continu-
ous vibratory or other movement of the filamentous tail, they
are propelled forward. The tail alone has the power of move-
ment, and it wisps about with an energy sufficient to move
many times the weight of the spermatozoon. In the interior
of the female organs of generation these movements are con-
tinued for a longer period than in any other situation. In
the queen bee the capacity for movement is retained for sev-
eral months after they have been discharged by the drone
bee ; and in the mammalia the movement may continue for
several days after copulation. Leuwenhock points out that
the spermatozoa of the dog will live or retain their movements
for more than seven days preserved in a glass tube ; and Dr.
Percy, of New York, reports a case where living spermatozoa
issued from the os uteri of a female eight and a half days after
the last sexual connection. In a bat that had been isolated
for thirty-six hours, both the vagina and uterus were filled
with spermatozoa in lively movement.

Even this full development does not, in all cases, seem
necessary for the fulfilment of the function of the spermatic
filament. In certain animals, such as the decapod Crustacea
and others, the spermatic elements are cast forth by the male,
and are transferred to the organs of the female while they are

THE SPERMATOZOA. 157

simple cells, which, during their subsequent life, form sper-
matozoa within the passages of the female, as they would
have done within the organs in which the spermatic cells were
first formed, the requisite conditions being duly supplied.

We will now touch upon the history of the development of
the spermatozoa, and will thus trace their kinship with the
cell. In the earlier stages of physiological science they were
regarded in the light of animalcule. At the present time
they are considered as epithelial cells, or, as Dr. O. W.
Holmes expresses it, are related to ciliated epithelium.

They are, as has been before stated, the product of the
testes. The testicles are a couple of true glands, containing
the secreting elements in the form of complexly convoluted
tubules, — the spermatic tubes, or tubuli semeniferse. These
consist of a fibrous coat, internal to which is a basement
membrane surrounded by epithelium. The character of this
epithelium and the contents of these tubes vary with the age.
In boys and young animals the slender tubuli contain nothing
but minute, clear cells, the most external of which may be
regarded as epithelial cells. The spermatozoa are not found
in these tubes until puberty in man, and among some animals
are only developed at certain periods. The epithelium lining
the tubes is most distinct when spermatozoa are not being
found, but when the function of the gland is being actively
performed the tubes are seen to be entirely occupied by cells,
filled with nuclei, in which the spermatozoa are ultimately
developed.

• The method of development is thus described by Todd and
Bowman : "The cells become detached from the basement
membrane, increase in size, and assume a more spherical form,
the contents at this time being entirely granules ; at length,
however, several clearer points or nuclei are seen in the inte-
rior of the cell, which is now passing down the tubule towards
the vas deferens, while it is succeeded behind by the formation
of new cells. The nuclei in the interior enlarge, and are
often seen to contain nucleoli. The parent cell having much
increased in size from the development of its nuclei into cells,
appears to undergo no further change ; but in each of the
Contained cells, which vary much in number, one spermato-
zoon is developed on the inner wall, in the form of a spiral

158 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

filament, as was first described by Kolliker. The spermato-
zoon escapes into the interior of the mother cell by the
rupture of its development' cell. Others are in like manner
set free, and they arrange themselves in a parcel, which may
ultimately consist of a vast number of separate spermatozoa,
with all the heads arranged in one direction, and the tails in
the opposite one."

Professor Kolliker has arrived at the conclusion that the
spermatozoa are not developed in the nuclei of the cells, but
from them. The nucleus becomes of an oval form, and one
extremity is elongated to form the tail.

It is thus seen that the spermatozoon is a living unit which
originates from within the cell, and appears to be developed
from the nucleus, which, as we have before stated, seems to
be the one element of all cells which concerns itself with their
production ; and as is shown by those cases of cells at emission
being developed into the spermatic filament in the female
passages, there is a developmental power inherent in the cell
after it has become detached from the basement-membrane,
or, in other words, has changed its appearance but little from
the ordinary epithelium. The production of these cells seems
to be somehow analogically allied with the process of gem-
mation, as in the ideal sperm-cell and the ideal bud. We
have, at first, a separation from the parent, and, secondly,
may have the evolving of apparatus to be used in reproduc-
tion. At this point the resemblance seems to be lost, as in
the spermatic element there is absolutely required, so far as
we know, that there shall be a meeting and union with
another cell to complete the new life, while in the gemmation
process, the spore itself, as in the female, may develop itself
into a structure containing organs from which the new gem-
mation originates.

This spermatic-cell is allied with the other cells of the
body, as with the whole body it has been formed through the
successive development of cells, — simple until after fecun-
dation. It apparently is primarily an epithelial cell, and it is
only as the body within which it is found attains age, or, as
is probable, it is only after cell has reproduced cell for many
generations, transmitting its own likeness each time with the
accumulated and accumulating variations, that the spermatic

PERSISTENCE OF FORCE. 159

filament is formed ; that is, being a highly-endowed structure,
it can be formed only through successive reinforcements of
force, or successive developments ; that is, it must pass
through the stated course of heredity with variation. Its after-
functions, or, as we may express it, the inherent power locked
up in these minute filaments, in man scarcely one-eight hun-
dredths of an inch long, indicates high endowments, just as
the power extracted from a lump of coal is the measure of the
power which was made latent in the stone form in its pro-
duction. This is also apparent in the close connection known
to exist between the nervous system and the organs of gen-
eration and the pLrysical lassitude following their abuse. This
close connection between the nervous and generative systems
explains some of the problems attending the study of inher-
itance.

Each cell partakes, it is probable, through inheritance with
variation, of the changes which have taken place, and which
are taking place, both mentally and physically, in the body.
It is a concretion of possibilities derived through a long course
of vital changes, and which is enabled, under favorable circum-
stances, to transmit its accumulated powers, through union
with another cell, to a remote posterity. The hypothesis of
pangenesis demands the presence of granules or gemmules
which are freely circulating through the system, and which
are supposed to be transmitted from the parent to the
offspring, and which can lie dormant or become developed in
the generations that succeed. To me, this is inconceivable,
and I prefer to suggest that the law of persistence of force
requires that no change can take place in a cell without
changing the possibilities of that cell in its multiplication and
future development ; that each cell is the sum of all the forces
which have acted on it in the past and are acting in the present ;
that the intimate connection of the generative cells with the
whole body, arising through their high endowment, stores up
in them a greater store of possibilities, brought about by their
extreme complexity of environment.

These possibilities may be looked upon as forces which are
modified by every antagonistic force, and, strengthened by
every force acting in their own direction, only require suit-
able conditions to become developed or affect development, —

160 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

that is, to add forces so as to be changed into other forces.
In a word, inheritance is but the transmissal of forces, and
inheritance can be general in respect to the whole body, and
local in respect to the tissues and parts of the body.

In the history of the development and in the formation of
the spermatozoon we recognize a segregation and localization,
— that is, the putting into form of forces ; and when this
spermatozoon unites with another cell, — the ovum, under
certain conditions, — a union of forces takes place, and, the
phenomenon of individual life being superimposed, these
forces are able to accumulate and store up the forces necessary
in turn for development, growth and future transmissal. The
whole form and character of the individual is the equilibrium
of the forces which were united to give him birth, and those
additional forces added on or influencing during life. If
we suppose development and growth taking place, or any of
the phenomena attending vitality, without the corresponding
expenditure of power, we are involved in an absurdity ; for
appropriation of and transmissal of force, not its creation, is
consistent with the reign of law, such as modern science
recognizes as existing.

In this place it may be well to define our understanding of
force. It is a power which produces change, or acts to change
any relations whatsoever between matter, — as the force of grav-
ity, cohesive force, centrifugal force, vital force. Modern
science has determined that forces, like matter, are indestruc-
tible, and that many of them are mutually convertible, and that
these mutations are rigidly subject to the laws of quantity.
Every manifestation of force must needs come from a pre-
existing equivalent force, and must give rise to a subsequent
and equal amount of some other force. We have laws govern-
ing force as we have laws governing matter. Every change
involves expenditure of force.

As a summary, we may look upon the spermatozoon as a
cell, the representative of the organism through which it has
been developed ; as one of the individual unities which are
freighted with force beyond its own needs, and but requires
the suited conditions of union with the proper germs under
suitable circumstances, to develop that force. Just as, for
illustration, we may consider coal or water as the represent-

PROCESS OF GERMINATION. 161

ative of the forces used in their formation. Through the
destruction of their power, their forces can be liberated to
again pass into other powers of energy.

THE GERM.

That portion of the female organism which most nearly
conforms to the spermatozoon of the male, is the ovum, or
egg, or, more accurately speaking, the most essential part of the
ovum, the germinal spot. The germinal spot appears to cor-
respond to the nucleus of the cell in many respects. The
germinal vesicle, in which the germinal spot is contained,
appears a cell surrounded by a mass of nutrient matter known
as the yolk, and the whole surrounded b}r a vitelline membrane
or yolk-sac.

The ovum takes its origin from within the stroma, or the
cavity of the ovaries, which answer analogically to the secret-
ing process of the testicle. In many of the lower animals
the testes and ovaries bear a close resemblance to each other,
and the same holds good in the early or embryotic condition
of the generative apparatus of man. In some of the lower
grades of animals, as generally in the articulates and mol-
lusks, the ovaries have a glandular character, but in the verti-
brates the ova are evolved in the midst of a solid fibrous tissue
or stroma.

The likeness between the spermatozoa and the ova is again
indicated by the fact that they both appear to be the product
of cell-action, with development having taken place after the
dehiscence of the cell from its companion cells. We thus
have in the sperm the mother-cell containing the nuclei which
are formed into ciliated cells, and which are to develop a
vitality sufficient to support the motion necessary to them for
the fulfilment of their uses. In the ovum we recognize an
advanced development, in which the cell containing its nucleus
is the essence ; the nucleus in both being the essential part
for the exercise of the complete function of either, — the pro-
duction of the individual life.

The ova in women originate in ovisacs or follicles, usually
termed Graffian vesicles, which are imbedded in the more
peripheral portions of the stroma. Each follicle in its fully
formed condition consists of a membrane and contents. First,

21

162 BOAED OF AGRICULTURE.

a highly vascular layer which is united with the stroma of the
ovary by a rather loose connective tissue. This membrane is
composed of undeveloped, nucleated, formative tissue, inter-
mixed with numerous, mostly fusiform, formative cells.
Secoud, an epithelium lines the entire follicle, and -on the side
looking towards the surface of the ovary, where the ovum is
situated, presents a wart-like thickening projecting towards
the interior and enveloping the ovum. In this germinal
eminence, as it is called, close upon the fibrous membrane
of the follicle, and, therefore, in the most prominent part of
it, is placed the egg (ovulum) imbedded in the cells of which
the eminence is composed.

In the articulated and molluscous animals generally the ovum
is produced from ovaries, which have a glandular character, —
those of the former retaining a vesicular type ; of the latter,
often prolonged into convoluted tubes.

In the ovaries of the advanced foetus and new-born child,
Graffian follicles are abundant, and the ovum can be seen
within them. According to Dr. Ritchie, there is a continual
rupture of ovisacs and discharge of ova taking place even during
childhood ; and I have myself verified this observation in the
ovary of a calf but a few days old. It is only as the period
of puberty is reached that the ova are perfectly developed
and capable of being impregnated.

The number of ova which may be produced by a single
animal is immense. In fishes the number is simply incon-
ceivable. The number spawned by a single cod is stated at
from one to nine millions. In the herring as many as sixty-
eisrht thousand six hundred and six ova have been counted
from one fish. Among animals of the higher orders we also
have an ample provision. Dr. Barry calculates that the ovary
of the cow, at the period of puberty, contains as many as two
hundred millions ovisacs to a cubic inch of the stroma.* In
the human female the ovary may contain from thirty to one
hundred follicles.

In the absence of proof, it seems philosophical to suggest,
that, judging from analogy, the ovum is directly the resultant
of cell-action ; that cells in the stroma, through a process of
reproduction, finally arrive at a stage where a certain inde-

* Todd and Bowman's Physical Anatomy, p. 848.

EMBRYONIC INVESTIGATIONS. 163

pendeuce of action can be sustained, and development pro-
ceeds, aided by the actions going on simultaneously in the
surrounding cells, producing changes on them, and having
changes produced in them in turn on themselves. The existence
of and discharge of ova during childhood, and the incomplete-
ness of the organization of such ova, by which impregnation
is rendered impossible ; the existence of the nuclei, which
suffer less change, or resist changes longer than the cell;
the formative power which the cells of the ovary appear to
possess even after the extension of the ova, as witnessed in
the corpus lecteum ; the numbers of ova beyond all seeming
needs ; the appearance of the germinal vesicle first in the order
of development, and the analogy between the sperm and the
germ in their development, are all suggestive of this view.

In the preparations for fecundation the mother-cell of the
estes possesses nuclei which develop into spermatozoa and
are scattered as animated particles within the secretions
of the seminal tubes. In the ovum, as a preparation for
fecundation, it seems probable from the observations of many
skilled observers, that the germinal vesicle is dissolved (like
the mother-cell), and the diffusion of its contents (which
originate or are formed from the germinal spot or nucleus)
through the yolk, which may be considered in some sense a
secretion.

Certain it is that the ovum, like the spermatozoon, repre-
sents vitality. A period in its development arrives when it
becomes capable, under fit conditions, of establishing an indi-
vidual and independent life. This condition of vitality may
remain for a considerable, though uncertain, period of itself;
the ovum has reached the highest development that it is ordi-
narily capable of, and it requires for its future development a
set of conditions external to itself, the union of the fecundat-
ing srerm and fit surroundings.

This ovum is, however, filled with possibilities. It con-
tains, as does the sperm, elements which may go to make up
an individual and independent life, and is one of the connect-
ing links which unite all the vital forces of the past with
future generations. It is a vehicle for the transmissal of the
forces which have had part in its own evolution.

Each cell or completed ovum contains its own forces, which

164 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

cannot be alike in each, such is the complexity of environ-
ment, but which can approximate in likeness according as the
conditions of their evolution have been more similar. We
cannot expect that in the continual development of ova into
new beings — although the conditions of the environment of
the development brought about by fecundation may be very
similar — parallel results shall in any case be obtained. In the
case of brothers and sisters we usually see resemblance, never
exact likeness of form or character, — occasionally an unlike-
ness of form or character. In twins it is a matter of constant
observation that the resemblances are usually quite close.

In the latter case, where the conditions of fecundation are
alike, and the development of the various germs which make
the new being are somewhat cotemporaneous in the time of
their development, and consequently exposed to a somewhat
similar environment, such differences as we observe between
the two offspring are to be largely explained by the difference
in the forces which were contained in the germs.

The ovum, like the sperm, being a representative of a con-
crete force, which has been made up from the action and reac-
tion of all acts affecting past ancestors which have had any
effect on its development, it must follow, as a matter of course,
that any individual act affecting the development of these
cells, must likewise be represented in the modifications pro-
duced in the forces which, through the ovum, are transmitted.

On this view we can explain the action of imagination, or
of a previous impregnation, upon the offspring. A long con-
tinued or a violent impression on the nervous system through
the changes following every act through which there is a con-
sumption of force, would necessarily modify, in some form,
the development of cells whose functions are peculiarly those
of transmissal. The fact that the development of the ovum
in woman is checked for a time, during the presence of the
child in the womb, and to a certain extent during lactation,
indicates the close relation between the germ expelled and in
process of development and the cells of the stroma of the
ovary. The sympathetic and nutritive relations are undoubt-
edly quite close, and the forces of the one are being modified
through the presence of the other. Such a change may, per-
haps, be recognized in the progeny, it depending on our

TRANSMISSION OF FORCE. 165

ability to more or less readily discern such changes as may
have occurred.

Animals, by food, not only maintain the perfect structure
of the body, but also lay up in their tissues a store of power
for future needs. The power stored for the individual is
latent for a time, but reappears and becomes active when
required, in the resolution of once living structures, by the
vital processes. The force required for the purpose of the
germ is derived from the progenitor ; as the germ chauges its
condition it may derive force through its own development,
just as the body renews its force through its development.
When the force derived from the parent is insufficient for the
continuation of the development process to a self-supporting
condition, that is, to individual life, the germ must perish.
Consider how few germs of the millions ' contained in the
cow's ovary which can ever arrive at a stage when there is a
capacity for receiving fecundation.

The primal force — or the force existing at the origin or first
recognition of any of our animals — need not be so inconceiv-
ably large. It is not requisite to suppose, with Prof. Huxley,*
that in the case of the successive viviparous broods of aphides,
a germ-force capable of organizing a mass of living structure
which would amount, as it has been calculated, in the tenth
brood to the bulk of five hundred million of stout men, must
have been shut up in the single individual, weighing possibly
one one-thousandth of a grain, from which the first brood was
evolved. The force transmitted is but that which has acted
on and influenced the transmitting cell, and this cell, under
unsuited conditions of development, perishes, and the force is
resolved into other forces; or, under suitable conditions, the
cell establishes a vitality independent of the parent, with the
possession of sufficient force to enable it to add to the forces
already possessed, in the way established by natural law.
To understand the germ-force of the case of the aphides under
consideration, we must couceive of the force transmitted to
be at least that sufficient for a single individual, and each
individual to elaborate through natural agencies a sufficient
power for its own growth and development and for transmissal
to its brood in turn. It but transfers a portion of that force

* Organic Reproduction of Aphis, in Tenis. Trans. Vol. XXII., p. 215.

166 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

which itself possesses, and which, through natural processes
of development, is segregated from the parent for the purpose
of the new individual. The parent, through the vital proc-
esses, continually renews and increases the original develop-
mental force through nutrition and other circumstances of
environment. The brood from this parent do likewise, each
individual for itself. Deprive this group of aphides of all
nutriment whatsoever, and how far could the developmental
forces continue?

The germ and the sperm have many points in common,
and, as shown by the history of their development, are
undoubtedly but differentiated products of the same funda-
mental element — the cell. According to the law of persist-
ence of force, the creation of a new product cannot be a
forming from nothing, but a transference only of force or
forces, form or forms, already existing. The germ and the
sperm cannot contain an original germ-force which of itself is
sufficient for all futurity, for such a proposition is simply
inconceivable. The forces which the germ and the sperm
transmit can be what they have, no more nor less.

The germ and the sperm, therefore, contain not the total
force and all the forces which are to act during the life of the
product, but they do possess the forces necessary to originate
the new being and influence the development in certain lines,
and the capacity of adding to these inherited forces according
as opportunity offers. When the forces are insufficient for
these purposes the product dies. When the operations ot
these forces are misdirected by circumstances, — that is, a con-
flict with other forces, or checked, or accumulated in one
direction, or neutralize each other either wholly or in part, —
changes ensue ; and it is this fact, this application of the law
of persistence or indestructibility, which explains evolution and
insures progress in the development of individuals and races.
The forces derived from heredity, and the effect of nutritive
forces on their development, have a dependent influence, not
only in the parent, but during the whole life of the germinal
product.

GENERATION.

In some of the lower organisms the egg may be sufficiently
organized to continue its development without the added force

METHODS OF REPRODUCTION. 167

received from the sperm. This is the case with some butter-
flies, and most notably in the case of the queen-bee, whose
eggs, produced under circumstances that forbid the suspicion
of fecundation, can and do advance towards maturity and
develop into the completed insect — the drone. In this instance
we seem to have the gemmiferous method of reproduction in
quite highly-constituted insects, whose continued existence is
dependent on the oviparous or true generative process.

In reproduction by division, we seem to have a tendency
towards a weakening of the germinal capacity, as is indicated
by the consideration of those lower forms of vitality in which
the process of nutrition and reproduction are more clearly
dependent on each other. Thus, limitations of growth and
arising through age indicate a decrease of germinal energy in
the reproduction of cells in the tissues, as also does the con-
verse fact that repair of injuries takes place with far greater
completeness and energy in the young than in the old. In
organisms that multiply by the fissiparous and gemmiferous
method, there is usually, if not universally, some provision
made for the occasional formation of new beings by the process
of fecundation, or of union with distinct cells.

In the plant and in the simple animal life we find a homo-
geneity of structure, which has but comparatively few special-
ized functions for its cells. Like those parts of the tissues of
higher animals which readily undergo repair, these cells are
formed mostly through nutritive repetition, and the forces
which regulate development appear quite simple in character
and evenly distributed throughout the whole cell-structure.
Thus the polype may be divided and subdivided, and each
portion will develop into a new polype. The twig removed
from the plant may form rcots and develop itself into an
individual plant like the parent stock.

It will be seen that the functions of nutrition and repro-
duction are, in one sense, allied. They are both dependent
for their origination and for the carrying out of their functions
upon a force derived external to themselves. In the fissipa-
rous method of reproduction we recognize the process by
which both the cells of animal tissues may be formed and
the origination of indepen 'ent individuals among the lower
organisms. In the gemmiparous method we have an instance

168 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

in the ova of the queen-bee, and in the preceding section we
have shown that the ovum is in essentials an animal cell. The
connection between the gemma and the cell may not be so
well indicated in some cases as in the hydra, where the gemma
thrown off are not merely structurally, but functionally com-
plete ; but it is clearly indicated in the zoospores of an ulva
or conferva, where the gemma appears but a cell, yet has the
inherent capacity of development into the parent species.

The act of generation is but the union of two cells, the
sperm and the germ, whereby a new being is the result. The
process in itself is not different in its principles from the other
methods of reproduction, but differs in the results following
its application. In all cases the only requisite for reproduc-
tion is the presence of a sufficiency and variety of force to
originate and support the process we call vital. In simple
cells there seems to be this force present, apparently in a ratio
with the age of the cell. As we attain complexity of envi-
ronment for certain cells the forces at work, or sufficient for
reproduction in the simply-constituted cell, are in part used up
in meeting and responding to the changes produced by added
complexity, and less is available for the production of new
cells like themselves, and reproduction is retarded in propor-
tion as demands are made on the vital forces for other pur-
poses. This antagonism between the nutritive (self-preser-
vation) and the generative (self-propagation) functions has
been generally remarked upon by physiologists, and is to be
explained by the doctrine of persistence of force.

When the force inherent is sufficient for preparing the cell
for development, and yet cannot compel the development
further of itself, on account of the weakening of some of its
forces through expenditure in sustaining the equilibrium
between itself and other forces, we may have reproduction by
gemmation, the cell cast forth meeting with new forces in its
career, which its inherent vitality enables it to appropriate for
its own use, and through the added force extend its own
development. Thus the egg of the queen-bee cannot hatch
the drone except food be supplied it ; and the force within
the egg when laid only enables it to develop the grub, a par-
tial transformation towards the completed insect, for the pur-
pose of appropriating and using the forces stored in the food

IN THE HIGHER ANIMALS. 169

and necessary for the completion of the development. The
female egg — or that which receives fertilization from the
drone — is in possession of an added force, which enables it,
in the presence of suitable food, to acquire unto itself the
forces necessary for development into a worker, or even into
a queen-bee.

In the higher animals we find the process of reproduction
by generation universal. In other words, so great is the
complexity of their environment, and so complex is their
structure for meeting the changes brought about by this very
complexity, that we find the various parts and organs of the
body highly specialized. As a resultant therefrom, we observe
but a limited repair even to the tissues of the body, and this
repair far more common in the womb and during childhood
than in old age. The generative organs are highly special-
ized, as they are fitted through long-continued inheritance,
with variation arising from the persistence of past and present
impressions, for the tran?missal of those qualities with which
they have or may be impressed. The force inherent, how-
ever, is insufficient, or not of the right quality, of itself, in the
male or female cell, to advance further development than the
stage in which we find it. By the union of the two forces
we have a sufficiency to overcome the difficulties, and a further
development may take place.

This statement is illustrated by the experiments of Gartner,
who, after making successive trials on a malva with more and
more pollen grains, found that a few grains of pollen did not
fertilize a single seed ; that enough pollen might be added to
form a few seeds of small size, while a sufficiency would pro-
duce the full development. Naudin followed the same line of
investigation with the mirabilis, in which the pollen grains
are large and the ovarium contains but a single ovule. A
flower was fertilized by three grains and succeeded perfectly ;
twelve flowers by two grains, and seventeen flowers by a
single grain, and of these but one flower in each lot perfected
its seed ; and it is worthy of notice that the plants produced
by these two seeds never attained their proper dimensions,
and bore flowers of remarkably small size.*

In the ingenious experiments of Mr. Newport upon ova of
amphibia, it is shown that the contact of a single spermato-

22

170 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

zoon is not adequate to produce complete fecundation ; but
that the penetration of a certain number of spermatozoa is
requisite, and that fecundation may be effected partially, so as
to occasion some of the developmental changes, by a small
amount.

That in development or generation the initial stage is merely
the addition of certain forces, is also indicated by the obser-
vations of M. Jourdain, that out of about fifty-eight thousand
eggs laid by unimpreguated silk-moths, many passed through
their early embryonic stages, thus showing that they had a
capacity for a certain amount of development, but only twenty-
nine out of the whole number produced caterpillars. In this
case, had the germ-force of the egg been increased by the
force added through the process of fecundation, it cannot be
doubted but that the caterpillars would have been far more
numerous.

Darwin remarks that the belief that it is the function of the
spermatozoa to communicate life to the ovule seems a strange
one, seeing that the unimpregnated ovule is already alive, and
continues for a considerable time alive, and, as we will add,
is capable of a continuous development for a limited extent ;
limited largely by race and species, but to a certain extent in
the individual.

Every consideration that I can bring to bear on my own
mind seems to point to the truth that generation is but a form of
the accumulation of forces to produce a certain result in exact
accordance with the forces that take part in the process. If
the forces become deficient for this purpose, then development
is modified or ceases at just that point where the insufficiency
shows itself. If the forces designed to be stored in the two
germs, or even in either singly, are diverted from their legiti-
mate purpose of reproduction, then failure, partial or com-
plete, will result, as is illustrated by the seed, which, if
secluded from the free access of air and moisture and kept
under other suitable conditions, in order to prevent the expend-
iture of force, — that is, change, — will preserve its vitality for
a long time. Allow, however, the access of air or moisture,
or other condition* which will induce change in the seed, the
vital force is expending itself in resisting these changes — that
is, forces ; and the environment not being suited for growth, —

DEVELOPMENT OF CELLS. 171

that is, the adding as of additional forces, — we have in the seed
either a noticeable decay or a complete loss of vitality, or
such an insufficiency of vitality that the growth can be but
feeble and partial, even if suitable conditions for its growth
and development are now presented it. Among our domestic
animals we have additional illustrations in the effects on fecun-
dity following insufficient feeding, full feeding and, perhaps,
over- feeding. Among the Arabs a year of scarcity is said to
be followed by one of almost complete barrenness among their
flocks ; and all breeders of sheep are aware of the importance
of abundance of food in influencing the production of twins.

Generation is the actual contact of two peculiar cells and
the union of their forces. On the sufficiency or insufficiency
of these forces, and on the relative quality of the concrete
force presented by the one parent or the other, depends very
much the future progeny. The changes following the union
of these two generative cells naturally fall under the head of
development, for with the conjunction of the two forces the
act of generation is accomplished.

DEVELOPMENT.

In the sperm we have a development taking place in the
mother-cell and in the nuclei, but this ceases with the forma-
tion of the spermatozoon. It is the function of this cell to
add force, and influence other creations. In the germ, on the
contrary, we have a development going on to an almost
unlimited degree. The mammalian ovum is, at the time it is
fitted for fecundation, far beyond the simple cell in complex-
ity. It contains various contents, granular in form, and dis-
tinct membranes enveloping these and the primary cell and
its nucleus, — the vesicle and the germinal spot. The ova of
various insects, as remarked with reference to the silk-moth,
can develop into intermediate embryonic forms quite gen-
erally, while a very small fraction can continue to the extent
of the completed caterpillar. The function of the ovum is,
therefore, to receive forces up to the extent sufficient for its
development iuto the state in which it can maintain of itself
its equilibrium with its surroundings.

Parthenogenesis, or the alternation of generation, seems a
striking instance of this law of development. The whole

172 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

phenomena may be considered in the light of incomplete
development, on accouut of the deficiency of primal force
which it is necessary for the germ to add to, through the
process of vitality, before sufficient force can be accumulated
for the production of the completed form. Thus the fern
sends forth a spore which is but an incomplete development
which obtains and elaborates its own nutriment, until it
accumulates sufficient force for the carrying forward of the
true generative act, which results in the formation of the
new fern.

In so-called arrest of development, it is usually noticed that
the defect resembles the same part at an earlier period of
embryonic life, so that although growth may have continued,
yet it has not developed bej-ond the grade which it has already
attained in embryo. This is but another illustration of the
persistence of force ; the inherent power which influenced the
continued advancement of the part was deficient, and hence
there could be no progress. As the body is but the balance-
ment of all the forces which have taken part in its past
history, defects of a character which indicate cessation of
force are useful guides towards the study of the past history
of the race, or, in other words, the progress of evolution.

It is, perhaps, the place to define what we mean by the
term "development." It is the word by which wTe express
the process through which a tissue or organ is formed, or by
which a tissue or organ or cell is changed so as to be fitted
for maintaining its relations with a more complex environ-
ment; that is, fitted for a higher function. It is not growth
or mere increase ; it is the acquiring not of greater bulk, but
of new powers and structures which are adapted to higher
conditions of existence. The forces influencing development
and growth appear to be of a different intensity and charac-
ter, yet, under certain circumstances, seem mutually convert-
ible each into the other.

Death is the limitation to the power of development. When
the demand upon a cell or a life is beyond the power of that
cell or life to respond, we find retarded development, or, as
it is generally called, disease, which must end fatally unless
the demands can be lessened or the power of the cell or life
increased. When the cells of the body have exhausted their

PHILOSOPHY OF BREEDING. 173

primal force derived through inheritance in the process of
development and nutritive repetition, then decay is but a
question of time, for without renewal there can be no lasting
continuance ; for force cannot be created — it can be only appro-
priated through changes of matter.

The ideal cell repeats itself through the force which is
stored within it. As forces have been received by the parent
cell through nutrition, and as force must have been used by
this cell in the support of the processes which accompany
vitality, this cell cannot transmit itself, as itself was when first
formed, to its own offspring, but transmits those forces only
which itself possesses at the time of the generation or produc-
tion of the offspring. Each cell, it is thus perceived, possesses
within itself the concrete force received from its progenitors,
and the additional or lessened force brought about by the
circumstances of its own environment, the sum being the
concrete force to be in turn transmitted to its own descend-
ants. As the environment increases in complexity there is a
constant demand upon the cell for changes sufficient to enable
it to meet this new condition of affairs. If there is not enough
force to the cell to respond, it languishes and perishes. If
the force is sufficient to enable the cell to meet the new
demands, development follows.

From these remarks will be inferred what the process of
development indicates" to observation, that progress is in the
line within which, and in the sequence through which the
forces which make up the concrete force was received. Each
cell has, therefore, if not interfered with by environment, a
primal force which rules at what successive development any
change must take place ; for if our views are correct, each
change must be influenced by the change which has pre-
ceded it.

Growth is distinct from development, and does not require
such a high vitality, or impressed force on the tissues, which
compose the substance of the part which is to receive it. A
force, therefore, which may be insufficient to continuously
develop a portion may be sufficient to preserve form and
function unchanged for a time at the extreme limit of the
power of the developmental forces, and even to produce
increase of bulk, as is so well shown by those cases of arrested

174 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

development where the size remains, but the structural plan
is that of a lower grade of animal life, as in malformed beasts,
where development makes no progress, but the growth goes
on to beyond the ordinary bounds.

Let me enunciate a few general laws which may be deduced
from what is thus far written.

Each cell contains its proper formative force which deter-
mines its future.

The force contained within each cell may be increased or
diminished through its environment.

Each cell receives its development to such an extent as is
determined by the forces which it has or may receive, — no
more, no less.

Complexity of environment requires in the cell a greater
force of resistance and more changes, in order that an equilib-
rium may be established, than simplicity of environment.

The order or sequence of development is the same as that
in which the force which determines the development was
received. In other words, persistence of force requires an
evolution, a progress onward so long as increased complexity
of function is required, and the forces appropriated are suffi-
cient to establish the equilibrium ; and the law of inheritance
requires that the force shall act in the order in which they
were received, for the sum of the past forces is essential to
the formation of the new concrete force.

The general law of matter, that like causes produce like
effects when acting on the same material, also finds expression
in this connection. This is illustrated by symmetrical diseases.
As Pasret remarks, the morbid substance in the blood, " fastens,
for instance, on certain islands on the surfaces of two bones,
or of two parts of the skin, and leaves the rest unscathed, and
these islands are the exactly corresponding pieces upon oppo-
site sides of the body. The conclusion is unavoidable, that
these are the only two pieces that are exactly alike ; that there
was less affinity between the morbid material and the osseous
tissue, or the skin, or the cartilage, close by, else it also would
have been similarly diseased." If we understand by affinity
the expression in a partial form of this law of forces, the
matter is rendered more intelligible. The like portions of
the body, the symmetrical ones, are developed through like

DEVELOPMENT OF THE EGG. 175

forces, and have like powers of resistance to the morbific
element. ,

The more highly organized the structure the longer it seems
to take for arriving at full maturity. Thus puberty, brain-
cells, etc., illustrate. The process through which maturity
arrives is through a series of constant changes and constant
advancement. We all recognize this element of time in the
growth and changes of function in the young ; it is also con-
clusively illustrated by the well-established law of inheritance,
through which there is a tendency to inherit at a correspond-
ing age.

There also seems to be an antagonism between the processes
of growth and development, as has been before remarked on.
This is but an expression of the fact that forces utilized in
one direction cannot, at the same time, be utilized for another
purpose.

If such be the genesis of the progress of cells towards
higher capabilities, the same laws must hold true for the com-
pleted life — the animal — the harmonious aggregation of these
unities and their results.

Going back to the egg, we will trace somewhat of the
development, as illustrated by the mammalian ovum. The
organized ovum receives additional force through the conjunc-
tion with the spermatozoa, and is now enabled to proceed
with changes in accordance with its capabilities.

The egg consists of a membranous external sac or envelope,
inclosing the spherical yolk, within which is the germinal
vesicle and its nucleus. The nucleus, or the germiual spot, is,
as we have heretofore said, the spot where is the life, or the
power of originating the life. The yolk, however, has a most
essential share in the development of the embryo. It may be
considered as the contents of a cell of which the germinal
vesicle is the nucleus, if we regard this more completed stage
of development as a single cell, as it is claimed to be by
Schwann.

The fertilized — that is, strengthened — ovum in a short
period commences to show changes. According to Barry,
the immediate effect of fecundation is to cause the germinal
spot to pass to the centre of the vesicle and the vesicle to the
centre of the yolk. The spot first indicates a change, which

176 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

is a mark that fecundation has taken place. After a short
time the germinal vesicle disappears, and is succeeded by two
cells. Each of these twin cells gives origin to two others,
making four. Each of these four in turn gives origin to two,
by which the number is increased to eight ; and this mode of
augmentation continues until the germ consists of a mulberry-
like object, the cells of which are so numerous as not to admit
of being counted. Together with the doubling of the cells
in number has been a diminution in size, and each cell is
found filled with the foundations of new cells into which its
nucleus has been resolved.

From this germ the embryo begins to be formed. There
is a separation into a defined central and peripheral portion,
both of which at first appearing granular, subsequently are
found to consist of vesicles. This mass becomes in turn more
and more differentiated, and we have an appearance which has
been described as the primitive streak, and a little further in
time the dorsal laminae. Thus the development proceeds,
constantly showing greater changes and more differentiation
of structure.

At first the development indicated is that of the lower
animals, as of the fish ; then that of the reptile, the bird, the
mammal ; then to the species, — variety, — and afterwards to the
individual. The progress is from the simple to the complex.
It will not be understood that the human embryo is at one
time a fish, at another time a reptile, etc. He merely assumes
the same type of structure that the bird or reptile assumes in
their developmental state.*

It is accordingly seen that a full development of a part
into a completed structure is a complex process, in which the
forces are changed and are changing constantly, and only after
a steady continuance of developmental changes can finally
possess the force of the strength and character fitted for the
succeeding structure. The force sufficient to develop the fish
or reptile is insufficient to develop the man ; and when the
force is at that point of accumulation, through inheritance and
otherwise, that its strength and direction is in any way equiva-

* For an illustration of this community of structure, as shown by development, see
Darwin's " Descent of Man," Vol. I., p. 15, where drawings of a human embryo and
of an embryo dog, at about the same stage of development, are contrasted.

PERSISTENCE OF FORCE. 177

lent to somewhat the same force used in the development of
another animal, there must needs be shown a resemblance.
Persistence of force, therefore, shows a necessity for the belief
in the gradual evolution of one type from another, in all cases
where conditions of life are becoming more complex.

At the birth of the young being development does not cease.
The parts are continually gaining in power, and are changing
in form throughout the period of youth. As the infant
increases in age he develops more capabilities, either through
the perfection of old or the formation of additional structure.
As the forces decrease in intensity the child — now become a
man — is said to be growing old ; and when the forces give
out, then development ceases ; there is no capacity for the
gathering in of the power that is necessary to supply the
force consumed in the labor of living, and death ensues.
Partial failure to meet this equilibrium may produce disease
only, and the patient, by gradually regaining this equilibrium
between expenditure and supply, may recover his health.

Life and death, development, reproduction, generation, —
all are the expression of the effects under general laws, of
which that of persistence of force is the ebii f. Inheritance
is shown in development, as in ovulation and generation. It
is but the expression of facts of our observation ; and it is
by the study of development that we are able to assert that
heredity is an expression of the action of general law — per-
sistence of force as applied to vitality ; — a law so powerful
and universal in its conception, that once giveu vitality and
constant change of environment, and if vitality endures, devel-
opment must of necessity ensue. In each, cause must produce
an effect, and we thus have change. In the change we cannot
conceive of no effect following the altered circumstance, so
that neither the cells nor their concretion, the body, after
once having undergone a change, can transmit the same
qualities or forces that they could have done if unchanged.
By the same law, transmissal or development of forces can
only take place in accordance with the order in which they
were received, for force modifies force ; and no concrete
force could be just what it is had there been any change
in any of the individual forces, whose totality is the result
before us.

23

178 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

GROWTH.

There seems a difference between the force utilized in
growth and that utilized in development. It is of a more
simple power, on account of more simple requirements.
Development appears to be dependent more on the primal or
inheritable force than growth, which is derived principally
from the forces acquired during life, as from food, etc. The
two methods are, however, in large degree interchangeable.
The essential element of growth is the reception and adding
on of new material, whereby bulk is obtained, or a nutritive
repetition. Growth and development are usually coincident.

As an illustration of growth without a corresponding devel-
opment, we have the malformed heart. Among the collec-
tions in the museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, writes
Paget, one among them presents only a single cavity ; no par-
tition has been developed between its auricles or its ventricles ;
it is, in respect to its development, like the heart of a foetus
in the second month ; but though its development was checked
thus early, its growth continued, and it has more than the
average size of the hearts of children of the same age.

In the cell, growth may be manifested in the increase in
surface or thickness of the cell membrane, or the cell departs
from its primitive globular character in such a manner that the
cell membranes only add new substance and extend out two
or more points. The membranes may become thickened or
changed through an infiltration or deposit of hard substances,
which may add bulk, or the cell may also divide and form new
cells, and these in turn others, while the part necessarily
increases in size through this increase of cells. In this case
we may have growth to the part and development to the cells.
We see instances of this process in the whole history of foetal
and early life. In adult age we may have increase of a part
through exercise, which result is usually an indication of
health. We may have, moreover, growth and development
coexistent in the adult in some cases, which are pathological,
as in those cases of hypertrophy in which the enlargement of
a part is effected with increase of its natural tissues, with
proportional retention of its natural form, and with increase
of power.

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT. 179

This increase through excessive cell action is, of course,
from this doctrine of persistence of force, more or less inher-
itable. We are not surprised, therefore, to find instances of
transmission of obesity in families, or of strength, or of pecu-
liar traits, involving an excess of activity of cell action, as
mental inheritances, inheritances of milking qualities in the
cow, etc. When the action of growth is accompanied by the
action of development, it seems probable that the force is of
a more perfect character than is the force requisite for growth
alone. That is, a force sufficient for growth may not be suffi-
cient or of the right quality for influencing and carrying for-
ward an extended development. When a force is insufficient,
we should expect either a partial or complete failure, and also
that the exact form in which the failure should come about
would vary according to the circumstances affecting it. We
can thus theorize on those cases where parents of the ordinary
size have given birth to dwarfs and to children of ordinary
size. A force insufficient for development should bring about
an abortion, or a failure in the offspring acquiring that degree
of existence in which the vital powers are able to add the
forces requisite for completing the process for arriving at
maturity. A force insufficient for a vigorous growth might,
under peculiar circumstances, allow the developmental forces
to continue in the formation of the young. Durdach cites an
instance of one man who had eight children from the same
wife, of whom four were dwarfs ; and Prosper Lucas another,
where of six children two were dwarfs.

Developmental and growth force, however allied, and how-
ever much they may influence each other, yet appear to have
this essential difference : growth is the absorption or gaining
of power through a direct increase or gain arising through the
presence of additional force, which is appropriated under the
influence of the developmental force. A process in its concep-
tion simple, developmental force is a concrete force, brought
about through complexity of environment, and its existence
depending largely and primarily on forces accumulated in the
past. As a summary, growth and developmental forces are
alike controlled by their past history, viewing the forces con-
trolling each at any particular moment as a concrete force ;
but the forces which regulate growth are increased more

180 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

readily by a certain form of environment, nutrition, than are
the developmental forces. Development is a higher form of
force, and is at a further remove from the inorganic than
growth. To repeat, the process of growth is far more under
the sway of nutrition than is that of development. The
ill-nourished plant may develop during growth, but the
growth is stunted. The rag-weed of our gardens can be cut
to the ground, and be exposed to great extremes of drought
on a gravel knoll, yet if there is vitality left, it will bloom
and ripen its seed, with an extremely scanty growth. This
plant, in a rich and congenial soil, maybe three feet tall;
under adverse circumstances the same process of development,
in kind, may take place in a plant under two inches tall.

We have, in growth, an unknown though probably deter-
minate limit. Up to that limit growth can be accelerated,
and even forced, by nutrition. Within limits growth can be
retarded ; even a diminishing of bulk can take place through
the withholding of nutrition. Growth influences development ;
but no amount of growth, — or, in other words, the presence
of unlimited nutrition, — apparently, affects development but
in very circumscribed limits. The conception of growth is
simple, — accretion, as a crystal, may be said to grow from the
deposit of its own material from the surrounding menstruum.
The conception of development is complex, involving an
adjustment of many forces, operating through long periods,
and includes growth.

Growth is distinct from development, yet allied ; is deter-
mined under the directions of the same laws which govern
development ; j^et the forces which determine growth and
development are different, in the same respect as are different
the forces which determine different exhibits of development.
All vital processes are the footing up of an unknown column
of figures that go back to the beginning. Every unit tells,
and some are plus and others minus. The phenomena we
observe is their addition, and the integer is fixed, although
perhaps not determinate to us. These integers are different
in every case. Higher in development than in growth, and
the tendency to increase according to the number of units
furnished through an increased complexity of environment.

Growth is in sequence before development, as it is depend-

THE GENERIC TREE. . 181

ent on simple causes ; for the law of all nature is from the
simple to the complex, rather than from the complex to the
simple.

SUMMARY.

The laws of breeding may be likened in their development
to a tree. First the root, then the trunk, branches, twigs
and leaves. The root represents law, — the law of causation, —
or, as it may perhaps be called, the law of unity, — the law
which directly preserves the harmony of all nature. This
primal law is the idea, which, as a conception and as a fact,
is the support of all processes of thought, whether of induc-
tion or deduction. The trunk stands for the conception
expressed by the term persistence of force (a law scarcely of
less universality than that of causation), because on it are
built up all the rest of the parts united with and flowing from
it. The limbs represent in turn subordinate and connected
laws, — such as those of resemblance and variation. The
twigs, other laws still more subordinate to the rest, — such as
find expression in the terms reversion, prepotency, etc. The
leaves can bring to mind the laws directly affecting the species
and the individual.

We might use in illustration a figure calling attention to the
gradual succession and inter-dependent position of laws, whose
understanding constitutes the science of breeding, the whole
structure passing from the periphery of individual facts
through successive gradations of deductions, in which the
facts reappear in successive integers, until all observations
unite into a completed aggregate, and give conception of and
expression to the law founded in nature available for this
development or evolution.

In our several divisions we have traced the law of persist-
ence of force, as well as regarded the law of unity, by con-
sidering in turn those parts and functions which take part in
the formation and evolution of the adult life. We have shown
that the germ and the sperm-cells have a development analog-
ically parallel, and that they are governed in their develop-
ment by the operation of the same laws. We have attempted
to show that, in generation, we have but an expression of the
same laws which operated to procure the elements essential
to it. That development and growth, the sequeke to genera-

182 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

tion, are governed by precisely the same laws, bearing in
mind throughout the effect of complexity produced by envi-
ronment, and the influences predicated on the general laws
involved. We have thus hoped to have established the con-
nection of the law of persistence of force with vital operations,
and its importance as offering an explanation for all the facts
involved in the consideration of evolution.

Biological science is under the control of those great laws
which regulate the cosmos, and the law of the persistence of
force is the chain which, permeating life in all its branches,
links its phenomena with those of the universe. Evolution is
not the cause of changes of animal forms and instincts ; it is
not merely an expression of the observed facts of animal
advancement ; it is an expression of the process of develop-
ment under the law of persistence of force. When this beau-
tiful law is once apprehended, there can be no escape from
the deductions which are seen to flow directly from it.

In studying the phenomena attending the breeding of
domestic animals, we have in this law the key for the investi-
gation of the observed changes, and the science of breeding
is established. With study and observation all practical
details which are precisely apprehended can be seen to be so
connected with previous and existing phenomena, through the
expression of this law of persistence, as to constitute a science ;
for science is nothing more than the tracing the lines accu-
rately between effects and their preceding causes.

APPLICATIONS.

There are many operations of nature, otherwise inscrutable
in their relations, which appear to be explained through this
law of persistence of force. Under the consideration of effects
through law, phenomena become linked with phenomena,
observations become more exact, and the horizon of our inves-
tigation becomes cleared. Let us see how far the theory we
have herein developed will serve us in the consideration of
those changes, which may be grouped in detail under the title
of subordinate laws of inheritance.

We will just call attention to what we have claimed in our
context, that heredity is itself developed in strict conformity
to the principles developed by this law. For the new force,

EYTHM OF MOTION. 183

concrete in the offspring, is but at first a transference of
forces possessed by the parent. To illustrate more fully :
the piece clipped from a polype is but a portion of the polype
formed by the same forces, and its development impressed by
the same force which caused the development of the body
from which it was derived. Therefore, in the absence of
counteracting influences, there must be resemblance between
the two pieces, the parent and the new individual, — the off-
shoot. The law of variation is also a development under this
law ; for causation, being universal, and the environment
under constant change, it is inconceivable that two individuals
should be exact counterparts of each other, no matter how
near their kinship. Thus constant changes produce corre-
sponding variations, and, so long as vitality exists, there is a
constant effort on the part of living structure to maintain
itself in equilibrium with the various forces affecting it, and
we hence have the possibility of evolution. In the phrase,
heredity with variation, we have an expression for conditions
which are unmistakably directed and ruled by law.

On a general law of vital periodicity . — Herbert Spencer, in
his "First Principles," devotes a chapter to the Rythm of
Motion, in which he develops the fact that all changes appear
to possess a periodicity of character, and that wherever there
is a conflict of forces not in equilibrium, a rythm results ; yet
as motion is never absolutely rectilinear, rythm is necessarily
incomplete. We find this same law exemplified in animals, —
the vital functions all tending to run their course in fixed and
recurrent periods, as illustrated by gestation and the phenom-
ena accompanying it, certain processes of development, etc.
In like manner, as the geysers of Iceland are intermittent, —
their spoutings ceasing, until, in process of time, sufficient
forces are accumulated to overcome the resistance of the
column of water which is expelled by the explosion, — so are
certain vital actions which require the expenditure of much
power, and even as is a priori probable, all actions whatso-
ever have a period of apparent quietude while they are accu-
mulating the forces necessary for overcoming the antagonistic
forces which they meet ; for conflicts are continually occurring
in nature, and a struggle exists, real, although often unnoticed,
to maintain that constant equilibrium which is the objective

184 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

point of vitality. These rythmic actions, once formed, tend
to be transmitted under the law of persistence of force, and
the conditions involved fall under the laws grouped subor-
dinate to inheritance. Hence a general periodicity, exhibiting
itself as a law, and race, species, individual periodicity every-
where, alike in principle, differing in detail.

Characters common to many species of a genus are found to
resist variation, or to reappear, if lost, more persistently than
the characters which are confined to the separate species; * and
the longer any character has been transmitted by a breed, the
more firmly it will continue to be transmitted.^ These two
propositions are essentially similar, as dependent for their
establishment on similar facts of observation. In general
terms, antiquity of character adds strength. From the con-
sideration of the laws involved, we see that each cause must
produce a corresponding effect, and as each germ is a concrete
force representing the sum of all the forces, whether plus or
minus, acting on its past, it must be influenced during each
generation by the continued presence of the same concrete
force. The truth of this reasoning is illustrated by the facts
of evolution, that generic characters are stronger than specific
characters ; that individual variability is general, and specific
resemblance more constant ; that crossing tends to produce
variability, and breeding to pedigree to produce likeness.
The apparent exceptions to this law of antiquity of character
are numerous ; for whenever, from whatever cause, another
force prevails for a season, this prepotency gained from anti-
quity in natural course may disappear ; but the fact that this
disappearance is oftener in individuals than in species, and in
species than genera, illustrates the correctness of our law.
Now, the accumulation of forces in one direction, either
through a " spontaneous " ( ?) variation or through breeding,
may, and often does, introduce a prepotency which will pre-
vail over characters which have been assumed during many
generations. This is illustrated by the Shorthorn cattle, a
comparatively modern breed, which seems prepotent over the
majority of the breeds with which they are crossed. The
Ancon sheep, as well as the Mauchamp merinos, are illustra-

* Darwin, An. and PL, under Domest, Vol. I., p. 139.
f Darwin doubts, ip. cit., Vol. II., p. 82.

PAST PLUS THE PRESENT. 185

iions of "accidental "( ?) variations, being prepotent over
long-assumed characters ; but in these cases the results were
partially aided by selection.

Embryo more slightly modified than adult animal. — In the
womb there is a striking resemblance between the products
of very diverse animals at certain periods of their growth ;
and it is as growth advances that the differences become
definite enough for immediate recognition. In the young
animal, as in the foal or calf, the difference between animals
of different breeds is at birth but slight compared to those
which exist between the adult animals. In certain charac-
ters, such as the sexual, we find development only occurring
at a considerable interval from birth. This one instance of a
process continually in action may be formulated in the law of
development at corresponding periods of life. It is clear that
these two expressions of facts, in constant occurrence, are
somehow linked together, — the young animal being but a
continuation of the embryonic life under changed environ-
ment. When we consider that each animal is, in turn, the
sum of his past, plus his present, — that is, the force which
has originated, or which we recognize as vitality, has changes
impressed on it during each period of its history, it will be
perceived that the existing animal could not be exactly what
it is if any change had taken place in its previous condition.
Under the law of persistence of force, each concrete force is
just what it is through the changes which have been impressed
on its constituent units or parts. Any change of its unities,
at any one period of existence, produces a corresponding
change in the nature of the concrete force, whose expression
is the specific or individual life. We therefore have periods
of development; for, in the reproduction of an animal, the
forces come at first entirely from the past, and are modified in
turn by their entire past ; and these inherited forces after-
wards act against, as well as arc modified by, environment.
But to have a concrete force resembling another concrete
force, there must be a similarity between the causes which
have produced or developed. At each moment of the history
of an animal, changes arc being impressed, and the state of
the animal at this moment has been determined by its previous
state. We thus have a continual series of changes going on

~ o o
24

186 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

under law, in which the past forces are continually in action,
and a given result can only occur through predetermined
forces in the past. Hence an order to development. Hence
the element of time, during which changes may occur in suc-
cession preparatory to the final result. Hence, in embry-
ology and immature growth, a guide for the study of the
history of past changes or evolution.

Correlated variations, as of homologous parts, and correla-
tions in general, can be understood under this view of forces,
continuously modifj-ing and influencing each other. When
the phenomena of life first appeared, the struggle for exist-
ence commenced, and in meeting the requisite equilibrium,
changes became impressed in relation with the complexity of
environmental forces, differentiations occurred, and the animal
was gradually built up in its wondrous intricacy, yet har-
mony; each force concerned acting on, and being acted upon,
by other forces concerned. Where we recognize this action
of one force (considered concrete in its results) upon another
(considered likewise), we define the action as correlation.
Thus, in all the breeds of the pigeon, the length of the beak
and the size of the feet are correlated. All modifications
which occur influence subsequent developments, not only of
the same parts, but also of all other parts with which it is
intimately enough connected. In this we have correlated
variations, in this but an expression of results following the
doctrine of the indestructibility of force, which teaches that
force, in common with matter, cannot be created, but can only
be converted, and is subject to changes, but never to loss.
In the correlations between bone and hair, we have different
structures built up in part from the action of the same forces,
as is shown by the history of their development. We there-
fore have a certain affinity between them, and a change
impressed on one is apt to be followed by corresponding
changes in the other. Were we sufficiently acquainted with
the forces which go towards making up the animal, the
numerous immediate forces could be referred to successive
intermediate forces, into which they could be grouped, until
finally the simple force would be reached, — a conception
expressed by vitality in the abstract. Correlation is, conse-
quently, but another expression of persistence of force. It

A CUMULATIVE POWER. 187

is a recognition of the mutual dependence of all structures
upon simple, harmonious law.

Prepotency. — As all causes are followed by effects, we must
believe that forces which have long acted, or have been accu-
mulated in one direction, have done so to the exclusion of
other forces which might have acted in their place, and hence
must be supposed to have had a stronger influence than if
they had acted through a less period of time, for continued
effects must have followed their continued presence in an
unstable equilibrium, like vitality. Hence, the term pre-
potency expresses the fact that a force, through long continu-
ance or otherwise, has, through its own strength, acquired a
preponderating influence over other forces. We thus have
prepotency of breed, — as illustrated by the case given by
Gocline, where a ram of a goat-like breed, from the Cape of
Good Hope, produced offspring hardly distinguishable from
himself when crossed wTith ewes of twelve other breeds ;
prepotency of sex, — as illustrated by the Shorthorn bull
"Favorite," referred to so often in Shorthorn pedigrees.
When, from any cause whatsoever, a force acts in a manner
stronger than another force, it is prepotent. If forces have
been accumulated through selection, or through breeding in
any one direction, we have a prepotency of such forces over
other forces which are unable to resist, — each force standing
on its own strength, however it may have been accumulated.
Pedigree, or the breeding in line, has a tendency to strengthen
the points of value: so also has purity of race; so also has
selection ; so also has the accumulative action of changed
conditions of life. Prepotency is, therefore, but a term
expressive of a fact, that of a number of forces fouud amid
many diverse conditions, — as in the maintenance of an equilib-
rium with changing conditions, — some are stronger than
others. If we consider force as persistent, and bear in mind
the law of causation, the predominance of some forces over
others becomes a necessity ; and the continuation of a force
through a longtime, that is, antiquity; or the accumulation
of forces in one direction, as by breeding to pedigree; or any
other method through which we obtain causes acting contin-
uously in one direction, strengthens such forces, and produces

188 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

in those cases where the action is recognized, the phenomena
called prepotency.

On the relations between the period of development of a
character and its transference to one sex or to both sexes; or,
as again more fully expressed by Darwin, variations which
first appear in either sex at a late period of life tend to be
developed in the same sex alone; while variations which first
appear early in life in either sex tend to be developed in both
sexes. As sexual characters receive their development late
in life, through the doctrine we are here enunciating there
must be, necessarily, a correlation between the sexual distinc-
tions and those parts developed under process of law at the
period of their activity. Hence, a prepotency through sex
might be established. In early lie, the sexual organs being
immature, there is less of correlation with sex, and, conse-
quently, less sexual prepotency. When, therefore, the adult
male differs from the adult female, and from the young of
both sexes, we may assume that the variations which brought
it about occurred late in life ; for, through the transinissal of
forces, the adult is the product of forces acting through the
young, and the history of the development must furnish a clue
to the order in which the changes have occurred. When the
adult male closely resembles the adult female and the young
of both sexes, the variations through which their characters
were acquired occurred in ea ly life.*

Inheritance limited by sex. — In correlation of structure,
brought about through persistence of force, we seek an
explanation for this curious phenomenon. It is seldom that
this species of inheritance is absolute ; but this can be
explained from the fact that, in foetal life, the distinctions
between the sexes are less than in adult life, and therefore
their influence is less strongly marked upon correlations. It
must be borne in mind that the individual is the product and
the equilibrium of all the forces which have had to do in his
making, both past and present. Originally, a simple force,
becoming differentiated, changes character, and concrete
forms result, the direct effect of the changes which are affect-
ing and have acted. The sexual changes are of importance;
produced by environmental circumstances, they in turn, as

* Darwin, " Descent of Man," Vol. I., p. 277.

BREEDING FROM CLOSE AFFINITIES. 189

concrete forces, must influence the whole structure. This
they do, beyond denial, and sexual distinctions must espe-
cially influence, to some extent in early life, to a great extent
iu adult life.

Inbreeding — Crossing. — Close inbreeding has a tendency
to induce sterility, while crossing is universally regarded by
breeders as brinsrins: vi^or. Darwin regards it as an estab-
lished law of nature, that all organic beings profit from an
occasional cross with individuals not closely related to them
in blood ; and that, on the other hand, long-continued close
interbreeding is injurious. It is the belief of physiologists
that every act of development 'ends to diminish the germinal
capacity, while every act of generation tends to renew it ; and
it is even probable that in plants even self-fertilization seldom
occurs, but the stigma receives pollen from other flowers than
its own through contrivances often of the most wonderful
complexity. This is a form of expression for the fact that
every change is brought about through the utilization of a
force, and that the forces may gradually become weakened in
producing changes unless a power of regeneration be given
them by a union with fresh forces. In inbreeding we are
dealing with forces of a similar character, — that is, they
approximate to a nearer likeness than do the forces ^ the
product of an out-cross, on account of having a greater
similarity of history in their past. We consequently have an
approach towards the development of new individuals without
the intervening act of generation, — as, by fission, gemma-
tion, etc. ; that is, an approach towards a developmental
process, as distinguished from the generative process, and,
consequently, a tendency to shorter duration to the life, — this
means weakness, lessened constitution, etc., etc. In an out-
cross, on the other hand, we have an entire departure from the
developmental idea towards the generative, and a consequent
vigor, or renewal of force. If the out-cross be, however, too
violent, a hybrid may be the result, — that is, the forces neces-
sary for fertility are absent, either on account of too great
antagonism between the forces present in either parent, or
because they are not of such a nature as to combine. In
hybrids, therefore, we have usually sterility, but also the
possibility of producing offspring, — as, indeed, is occasionally

190 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

the case, — the result depending upon the structure and com-
position of the forces which severally are engaged. In mon-
grels we find great variability and little prepotency, as a rule,
all resulting from the doctrine of persistence of force.

The other effects of inbreeding — as the transmission of
defects in an accumulated form — fall directly under the fact
of inheritance, and need not be considered in this place.

The unequal fertility between reciprocal crosses connects
the consideration of mongrels and hybrids, and seeks explana-
tion from the same laws.

In crossing animals of the same race we have a union of
forces under the laws of breeding, but on account of our little
knowledge concerning the relative strength and the combined
action of the forces we. are using, the results are apt to be
very variable. When two forces meet in antagonism, each
is modified and changed according to the law of mechanics,
but neither force is obliterated ; the effect of the struggle
remains, while the forces may be in abeyance. Like the
circular ripple of the pebble dropped in the water of smooth
surface, the effect is ever acting, ever extending, and we thus
have a series of actions modifying changes for all time.
Characters in an animal are never obliterated, but may dis-
appear from our view. We have, in crossing, a means for
the modification of race, by producing changes through direct
antagonism of force. We also have in free crossing a means
for the preservation of uniformity between members of the
same race. Like a two-edged sword, the law of crossing cuts
both ways, according as its principles are applied, and under
the government constantly of the great law of nature, — that
of the persistence of force. As the antagonism of forces may
be considered in the light of a mutual absorption, other forces,
too weak to otherwise appear in a form recognizable to us,
may appear. Hence, we say, that crossing produces a ten-
dency to reversion or atavism.

Selection. — This is simply an expression of a means to an
end. It signifies the accumulation of a force in a chosen
direction. As used by the breeder, selection means modify-
ing the laws of animal nature through human knowledge and
skill, so as to predetermine the result. If unconscious, it is
the accumulation of prepotency through law, not under the

THE LAW OF INHERITANCE. 191

voluntary direction of man. The very terms used in discussing
the doctrine of selection, presuppose the doctrine that force is
persistent and is subject to the law of matter.

Malformations. — These are all subject to law, which is not
only a priori reasonable, but which has been already partially
formulated and discussed. These, whether monstrosities or
the opposite, can derive an explanation from the consideration
of the doctrine of forces. In the case of dwarfs, develop-
mental force is present, growth force seems defective. In
monsters, we may have a deficiency of certain forces at a
determined point, as in cases of arrest of development, or an
accumulation of forces in a direction injurious to the individ-
ual. Nature only attains perfection (equilibrium) through
repeated efforts, and those not fitted to exist perish in the
struggle of life.

Imagination. — That there is an influence between the womb-
contents and the mother, is illustrated in many ways. In the
woman, the development of new ova is checked upon the
occurrence of impregnation, and lactation also appears, in
the majority of cases, to have the same effect. Diseases of
these parts are apt to produce mental disturbance, and in
other ways a close connection is shown between the mental
and reproductive functions. Causes, therefore, acting on one
must necessarily affect the other ; and, through persistence of
force, the child must also be influenced in turn, for it receives
its supply of force through the mother. The physical con-
nection of mother and offspring is not, however, direct, and
the influence of one on the other is not as well marked as if it
were otherwise; yet the influence on each other must be
reciprocal. An impression of long duration would seem to
have a power greater than one of short duration, or even,
possibly, than a violent impression of short continuance.

Effects of a previous impregnation. — By the law of causa-
tion, there must be a mutual relation between mother and
offspring in the womb. We recognize this fact in practice,
and in reasoning it naturally follows from persistence of
force. The force received from or through the father, uniting
with the force presented by the female, coalesces, and during
growth and development must influence, in some way, the
female structure, — for causes and effects are correlative ; and

192 BOAED OF AGRICULTURE.

we have in the young, modifications, through developments and
growths, going on continuously, supported from the mother;
and it is unthinkable that there is not an effect being pro-
duced, in turn, on the mother from these operations.

Question. I would like to ask Mr. Harris which of the
various breeds he deems best to produce the results which he
has indicated as desirable ?

Mr. Harris. I cannot answer that question. I really do
not know, it depends so much on circumstances. I keep the
Essex. I have bred Berkshires. I do not know which is the
best. I like the Essex, because I have got the Essex. Per-
haps the Suffolks are just as good.

Mr. Dillon. Mr. Harris's modesty probably prevents
his expressing his preference. We shall have to infer it,
therefore, from the fact that he keeps the Essex. That seems
to be a proper conclusion.

Mr. Goodman, of Lenox. Some of the suggestions of Mr.
Harris bring into prominence one or two subjects which, I
suppose, interest those of us who are practical farmers. I
suppose we do not come here entirely to be amused, but to
get some practical benefit from the essays which are read
here ; but it is a good deal like all other preaching. We
come to this place and listen with a great deal of amusement
aud interest to the remarks of the preacher, and go away with
these theories ; but it is my experience, and probably the
experience of other farmers, that after we leave these assem-
blages we are apt to forget what we have heard, until the
report of the Secretary comes round, in which the essays and
discussions are printed, and very few put the theories into
practice.

There is one subject which more particularly interests the
farmers where I live, in the western part of the State, and
that is the subject of manures. I notice that whenever that
subject is discussed, — as was evident yesterday morning, — it
always excites great interest and inquiry ; and, as stated yes-
terday morning, the subject is never exhausted, and never
will be, so long as a Yankee farmer is in existence. But the
difficulty about it is, that our interest ends with the inquiries ;
wTe do not put the information we obtain to any practical use.

MASSACHUSETTS AND NEW JERSEY. 193

I hope, in the few remarks I make, to clear my own mind on
the subject, and perhaps give a little zest to it in the minds
of those who listen to me.

There is no doubt that the subject is comparatively a new
one, so far as the use of any fertilizers — except those we make
upon the farm — is concerned. The subject of phosphates,
which was considered yesterday, is a comparatively new one
to us ; but the whole subject of commercial fertilizers has been
left, like Mohammed's coffin, hanging in the air, — for Prof.
Stockbridge has not concluded his experiments, and we
learned nothing yesterday as to the mode in which he made
those materials, the results of which he described. But are
there not other places where they are using materials of a
similar nature? The State of New Jersey, once looked upon
as a barren State, politically and agriculturally, and con-
sidered somewhat out of the Union, has an area only five
hundred square miles more than Massachusetts, yet it has two
hundred and forty thousand more acres of productive land
than we have in Massachusetts. Its waste lands are about
equal to those of this State. Its farms are appraised about
two and a half per cent, higher than the farms of Massachu-
setts, and are estimated to increase in value ten per cent,
every ten years. Its farm-products are one-third greater, and
its orchard-products are about one-third greater. There are,
probably, a good many reasons for this progress in the agri-
cultural welfare of the State of New Jersey. One is the
propinquity of the city of New York, which affords the
farmers of that State a large market. Another is the large
number of wealthy city-people who live there, who have spent
a great deal of money on important improvements. But, I
apprehend, when the matter comes to be investigated, it will
be found that a great deal of the agricultural prosperity of the
State is owing to the utilization of beds of marl. It is known
that that State is rich in this underlying material, and of late
years it has been used in large quantities. I judge that when
we get the reports of their geological professors, who are
investigating that subject, it will be found that the produc-
tiveness of those lands is owing in great measure to the free
use of this material. Now, when we can use the material,
which was spoken of yesterday, on our farms, in the same

25

194 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

way, I apprehend we may arrive at the same result. Prof.
Goessmann tells me that this material can be used on our
moist and wet pastures, in its gro ;nd state, sown as we
use plaster, at a cost of $13/0 a ton. Now, Ave know that
there is nothing in the greater part of this State that we are
so much wanting in as good pasi res. They are not only not
improving, but they are deteriorating, and a good many of us
who have mountain-pastu es find it impossible to bring them
up by ploughing and re-seeding, on account of their rocky
condition ; we must have some material by which we can keep
them up and support our cattle. If we can have these phos-
phates brought close to us, we can use them to great advan-
tage, because we cannot make more manure on our farms than
we need for our cultivated crops ; we cannot afford to put it
on our pastures. Therefoie, we can only improve our pas-
tures in the ordinary way, by letting sheep run over them, or
by throwing on occasionally a little plaster, or something that
is only beneficial for a time.

Now, there is one practical application that the farmers in
the interior can make. Those living on the sea-shore, and
having market-gardens, and getting large prices for their
crops, can use fertilizers, no matter what they cost. They
can afford to pay $45 or $50 a ton, because of the returns
that are made in money immediately, while we who are rais-
ing ordinary farm-crops cannot afford it. As Mr. Harris
says, we can realize very easily that the money is going out,
as an actual fact, but that it will come back, in the shape of
collections, is very hypothetical.

There is no doubt that the pig is one of the greatest makers
of manures that we have ; the only objection is, we must eat
him when we have him. I am not a very great admirer of
the pig. I think farmers eat too many pigs. We know that
our old friends, the Jews and Mohammedans, never ate pig.
One reason was, because pigs were used for sacrifice among
the idolatrous nations ; and for the same reason that the Jews
passed laws forbidding the cutting of the beard in certain
shapes, and the mingling of male and female apparel, they
condemned the pig. The Koran condemns him for the same
reason. But that does not prove that the pig is unhealthy.
He is good enough in his way, if you do not eat too much

THE GREEK PIG. 195

of hini. I apprehend he would be a little more healthy if
allowed to run as the wild boars used to run. The Greeks
were great pork raisers and eaters. Eurnceus, the swine-herd
of Ulysses, was the most perfect country gentleman recorded
in ancient history, and swine constituted the most important
portions of the hero's property. But the pigs of those days
were healthy animals; they were not penned up, but roamed
about, feeding upon vegetable substances. They got their
carbon and nitrogen, not only from their food, but from the
air. The people of those countries did not have many of the
diseases that we have in our day ; and I apprehend if we ate
less pig and more mutton and beef, we should be a healthier
people, and our children would be better and braver. But,
unfortunately, we must use the pig as we use the cow, the
sheep and other animals, for the purpose of making manure.
But it is a fact, that with all the efforts we can make to get
manure in that way, we cannot get enough ; therefore we are
continually crying out for more manure. Now it seems to
me, that the preparations which are being made for the intro-
duction of these phosphates will brii g them within the reach
of every farmer in the country, and that tho analyses of Prof.
Goessmann and the experiments of Prof. Stockbridge show
that they can be beneficially used. You may talk about
farmers being scientific men, and analyzing these things, and
making their own manures, as much as you please ; they will
not do it. The farmer cannot bring these materials together
and make his own manure economically, or with any satisfac-
tion. Every chemist who has handled them knows that it is
a difficult and disagreeable thing to do. You may take these
phosphates, and other materials, and bring them on to your
farm, but you will not try them more than one season; you
will get tired and disgusted, no matter whether it pays or not.
Therefore, we are to be indebted to these practical men — to
Prof. Stockbridge and the chemist of the Agricultural Col-
lege— to get these things into such shape that we farmers can
use them. I hope that those of us who are so situated that
we can avail ourselves of these fertilizers, at the prices at
which they are now being sold, will assist by our experiments
in determining the value of these things. Let us, next sea-
son, try the effect of this phosphate, which is the cheapest

196 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

manure which is now brought to our notice, upon our pas-
tures and meadow-lands, and see what it will do. Prof.
Goessmaim thinks it will be more efficacious upon moist lands
than dry, because the phosphate, on moist lands, becomes
immediately soluble. Of course, it would be a great deal
better to try it upon laud that is drained ; but those who have
not drained land can try it upon moist pastures and meadows,
and see what the result is. After we have made our experi-
ments, let us report them to the next meeting of the State
Board, either by letter to the Secretary or by personal attend-
ance ; and Ave can in that way, I think, arrive at some results
which will be of more benefit to us than merely coming here to
be amused and instructed by these lectures, without putting
the instruction we receive to any practical purpose.

Mr. T. S. Gold, Secretary of State Board of Agriculture
of Connecticut. I merely rise to say a word in explanation
of an apparent anomaly in the remarks of Mr. Harris, with
regard to the value of manure from the various articles of food
which he mentioned. Mr. Harris, you will recollect, made
out that the manure from a ton of bran wyas worth more than
the bran cost. To us farmers this appears to be an anomalous
and unfair assertion, and it needs a word of explanation.
The chemist does not profess to give us the actual value of
the different materials used as fertilizers, but the relative
value, and the phosphates may be worth a great deal more or
a great deal less than sixteen cents a pound, and the nitrogen
may be worth a great deal more or a great deal less, accord-
ing to the circumstances of our location, and the manner in
which we use these materials. I understand that in some
parts of Connecticut, for instance, the farmers pay fourteen
dollars a cord for common barn-yard manure to apply to
certain crops, while there are other sections of the State
where we cannot raise any crops that would enable us to
make any such expenditure as that. We must remember that
all the conditions are to be taken into account under which
we apply these fertilizers. If we apply them, and allow
wreeds to grow and take the strength of the fertilizers,
you plainly see it is done at a loss. The prices of the
chemist must be taken with this explanation. They are only
the relative prices at which nitrogen, phosphate of lime, phos-

INFORMATION WANTED. 197

phoric acid, and other things, can be bought in certain standard
articles in the market.

I merely rose to make this explanation, that Mr. Harris's
experiment may not be left to go out as showing that you
may feed a ton of bran and get more value in your manure-
heap than your bran cost you. And the same may be said of
cotton-seed meal.

Mr. Root. Perhaps there is no subject to -which the atten-
tion of the farmers and stock-raisers of Massachusetts could
be directed with more advantage than the subject considered
in the paper which has been presented by Dr. Sturtevant this
mornino;. We have listened with the utmost interest to the
subjects brought before us by Prof. Stockbridge and President
Clark, in connection with their investigations into nature.
Dr. Sturtevant is commencing investigations in the same
direction, in reference to the mooted question, how we shall
breed ; and perhaps there is no question which we farmers
feel . o perplexed about as how to breed our domestic animals,
what breeds we shall use, and how we shall perpetuate their
good qualities. We all know the mistakes we make, and how
disappointed we feel when we do not produce the results
which we are so anxious to obtain. The problem is one full
of difficulties, all of which we do not understand; and when-
ever these investigations have been carried so far that some
definite rules can be laid down for our guidance, we shall have
arrived at a state which we have not as yet reached. I
sincerely thank the Doctor for his investigations in this direc-
tion. AVhether breeding in-and-in is to be avoided ; whether
the vital forces generated by successive reproductions in the
same family by in-and-in breeding are such forces as it is
desirable to perpetuate ; whether we are to make violent
crosses for certain purposes, — when these questions shall
have been so fully investigated and determined that we, as
practical, every day farmers, can have certain rules for our
guidance, we shall have arrived at a state of things which does
not exist yet. I hope, sir, that Dr. Sturtevant will continue
these careful investigations until we shall be able to profit by
the results of his work.

I only rose to express the ho^e that some of the intelligent
farmers in this portion of the Connecticut Valley, who have

198 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

tried experiments in breeding, would give us the benefit of
their observations and practice.

Mr. Feench, of North Andover. I would like to ask Mr.
Harris if he has practised inbreeding with swine ; and if so,
how far he has carried it ?

Mr. Harris. I have one strain of Essex, which I call my
"Champion" strain. I have one boar and one sow, — "Cham-
pion" and "Champion's Sister." I have bred them, father
and grand-daughter, for five generations, thus far, and "Cham-
pion" and his sister are the result of these five crosses. I
never breed brother and sister ; but I breed father and daugh-
ter, father and grand-daughter, and so on. This sow —
"Champion's .Sister" — is one of the best breeders I have.
When Dr. Sturtevant came to see me last winter, I showed
him a sow that was from this "Champion's Sister," and she
had then niue'y-eight per cent, of the blood of the old
"Pompey" boar, as I call him. I told him she was then with
prigs by "Champion." I tried it as an experiment. She has
since proved to be without any pigs, and she is going to the
butcher.

Mr. D. O. Fisk, of Shelburne. I am a little iuclined to be
a pig man myself, and thank Mr. Harris for his very interest-
ing and able lecture. It corresponds exactly with my views.
The matter of keeping swine for the purpose of making
manure is one that interests every farmer. It is of great
consequence that we bear in mind the valuable instruction
which Mr. Harris has given us in his lecture, especially with
regard to the benefit that comes to every farmer by keeping
swine. It has been a study with me for many years how to
make the most manure I possibly could, and I have found no
better way than by keeping swine. I have not been able to
buy, as other gentlemen have, commercial fertilizers at the
prices at which they are sold in the market. I have discarded
them entirely. Our friend has spoken about the exorbitant
price asked for these fertilizers, and we all know full well
that it is true ; but if we will stock our farms with swine, we
can make all the fertilizers we need. I do not agree with
Mr. Goodman, who said we could not possibly do it. I know
that the man who raises tobacco can afford to buy fertilizers,
but those of us who hate it, cannot raise tobacco to buy ferti-

PIG AS A MANURE-MAKER. 199

lizers ; we must get our manure in some other way. If you
will keep the pig at work, you will have all the manure you
want. I believe that good, healthy pork, is an excellent arti-
cle of food for every man, woman and child who works with
his or her own hands. I believe that the meat of pigs that
are well raised, and fattened on the products of the soil, is as
healthy as mutton or beef, or anything else that comes on to
our tables. The man who works out of doors, who takes care
of his own business, who oversees his own men, and takes
care of his own stock, can stand a little pork yet ; and when
I say that the pig is, beyond all comparison, the most splendid
animal for us to make fertilizers from, I am telling you what
I know to be true. If you will go to work yourself with a
shovel, and put in the hog, and let him mix up his urine and
offal, feed him well, never allow him to waste an hour of his
precious life, keep him fattening, keep him going along every
day and hour of his existence, he will put money in your
pocket, and increase your manure-heap better than you can
do it in any other way.

I have a little black sow, — I suppose of the Essex breed, —
but not full blood. I raise all my litters from pigs that suck
all the teats they can get hold of, — first, middle and last.
This little sow I am telling you about happened to be a " teat-
man's " pig. When she was three months old she weighed
but seven pounds. I thought, as soon as she got big enough
to roast, I would kill her. But the first I knew, she got
with pig, and I thought I would let her sweat. Her first litter
was eight, and she raised them all. Her second litter, about
five months later, was nine, and she raised them all. I sold
them for five dollars apiece. The man wanted them to make
manure, and he could afford to give more than they were
worth for pork. Then she went along until the fifth of last
May, when she had a litter of fifteen, and raised twelve of
them ; and on the sixth of November, she had seventeen
more, and raised twelve. She is only a little over two years
old, and she has raised forty-one pigs. That sow has yielded
me more profit than any cow or any field of tobacco that I
have heard of for the last two years around us. I like the
whole thing. I let my hired man have one of those pigs, and
told him ho might have the slops, and he must keep that pig

200 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

well bedded. The other day, we took ten full cartloads of
splendid manure from the pen where that one pig is kept.
You must stop your nostrils, and everything else, to handle it.

Mr. Cheever. In connection wdth this subject of the
breeding of pigs, and inbreeding, I would like to state the
result of the practice of one of my neighbors, Mr. Levi T.
Ballon, of Woonsocket, R. I. He commenced breeding pigs
— the improved Suffolk breed — about twelve years ago, from
a boar and sow which he bred, without taking any new blood
in. He has bred in every conceivable way, — mother and
son, father and daughter, and brother and sister, — and has
raised an average of about one hundred and ten pigs per year ;
iu ten years raising eleven hundred. He tells me that among
those eleven hundred pigs there has not been one deformed
pig, — every one has been perfect. That is very unusual, in
ordinary breeding. It is unusual to raise even a hundred
pigs without having deformities of some kind, iu connection
with the sexual organs, or in some other way.

Perhaps I ought to state, further, that he has a theory of
his own. He always keeps a male for the service of his
neighbors, but he never allows any neighbor's sow to be
brought to his pen until he has done using him himself. His
breeders are kept in the very best health possible, with his
knowledge and ability, and after he has used them himself,
then his neighbors have the advantage of them. He accounts
for his success in that way. That is a case of more thorough
inbreeding than almost any other I know of in the country.

Mr. Parsons. I knew a celebrated breeder of Shorthorns
in Western New York who has bred in-and-in for some five or
six generations, very closely, and he has some of the finest
specimens of Shorthorns that I know of.

Mr. Stone, of Westborough. I have had, in former years,
a little experience iu breeding pigs. In 1849, I commenced
with a breed of hogs which I bred for more than ten years,
and never went out of my yard ; crossing mother and son,
brother and sister. At the end of that time, I purchased a
hog of Mr. D wight, — one similar to those, — and they im-
proved very much. They were well known in Brookfield,
and the neighboring towns for twenty miles around. There
was perfect symmetry in the development of those hogs. I

DANGER OF INBREEDING. 201

gave them the name of "The Worcester County Hog." I sold
some of them to go to Martha's Vineyard, and the State
Lunatic Hospital had some of the hogs, and have the same
breed now.

I have been very much interested in the lecture of Dr.
Sturtevaut this morning. I would like to know how far this
in-and-in breeding can be carried. I have had a little experi-
ence in in-and-in breeding with stock. At the time the
meeting of the Board was held in Springfield, ten years ago,
I had been trying some experiments, and the testimony of
Dr. Loring and Prof. Agassiz strengthened my faith in the
practice of breeding mother to son, with a view to getting a
perfect animal. I have*, in some measure, bred in one family
in that way, and the result has been a better development, a
more perfect animal, and a larger growth. Now, if there are
any dangers incident to this practice, if the animals are likely
to run out, so that they will not breed at all, I would like to
get that information. But, certainly, I have produced as fine
animals in that way, according to my best judgment, as by
any other method I have followed.

Mr. Flint. It may be well to state, in order that those
who have not thought very much on the subject, may
understand it, that the method of inbreeding, to which Dr.
Sturtevant alludes, is not what would be called very close
inbreeding, for the reason that a son has only half the blood
of his mother, and a daughter has only half the blood of her
father. The closest inbreeding would be a full sister and
brother. That would be, of course, rather a risky operation
to undertake. Mr. Dillon, of the Agricultural College, may
be able to state a fact, — which is only an isolated fact, to be
sure, but it has a bearing upon the method to which Mr.
Stone has alluded, — that is, the breeding of a son upon his
mother. The result in one case has proved very unsatis-
factory. I do not see why it should. I think Mr. Stone is
right in what he has said, and, so far, he has seen no ill
result ; but in the case to which I refer, for some reason, the
result was not satisfactory.

Mr. Dillon. I do not attach to the fact to which Mr.
Flint has alluded, any inference against inbreeding. In that
case, a Brittany cow — a very excellent animal, and, certainly,
26

202 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

an animal of good constitution — has been bred for two years
to her sou, which, I may say, is also an animal of extra-
ordinary vigor, and has failed to produce calves that lived.
She brought two calves, one of which died within a few days
after its birth. The second one was dropped in the pasture ;
he was extremely active when we found him, and it was not
until we had him at home a couple of days that we found he
was stone-blind, and when he was about three weeks old, he
died of his own accord, without any assistance on our part.

I want to say a word in regard to the selection of pigs for
breeders. I attach no importance to the suggestion that we
should choose the pig that sucks the hind teat. But I have
noticed that there is rather a tendency among the stronger
pigs to get forward ; and inasmuch as we always select the
strongest pig, I am reasonably certain that we select one of
the pigs that sucks a forward teat ; especially is that the case
with the Chester Whites, and we veiy seldom have a soav that
produces less than thirteen. I infer from that, that the theory
of the old lady, that a sow pig that sucks one of the forward
teats will not produce many pigs herself, does not prevail in
all cases.

Mr. Thatcher. I would like to ask Mr. Harris if he has
ever experienced any trouble, in feeding barley-sprouts to
cows, from the excitement of their nervous system?

Mr. Harris. I have never fed them very much to cows,
only for about two months, and have never seen any ill effects
from them at all.

Mr. Thatcher. The reason I ask the question is, that
one of my neighbors, who produces milk for the New York
market, has been successful in that line for four or five years,
until last year, when, not having all the feed he wanted for
his cows, he bought some of these sprouts. After feeding
them some months upon these sprouts, his cows became nerv-
ous, and were, apparently, running down. A committee of
our farmer's club was appointed to visit the stock of its mem-
bers and report upon them. I visited this neighbor's farm
and examined his stock while he was feeding these sprouts,
and at that time the cows had begun to show a degree of
excitement which was causing him a great deal of trouble.
Cows that had been gentle before, and always stood perfectly

ECONOMY IN SMALL BREEDS. 203

quiet during milking, if he sat down and attempted to milk
them, would manifest the greatest excitement ; and this trouble
went through the whole stable of twenty or thirty cows. The
result was, that he had to give up feeding those sprouts, and
after a month or two his cows became quiet again. The
question with me was, whether others had had the same
experience.

Dr. Wakefield, of Monson. I am after a hog that, at
nine or twelve months old, will weigh three or four hundred
pounds, and be in a good state to fat and kill at a profit.
I am breeding thoroughbred Yorkshires, and I have crossed
thoroughbred White Chesters with them, and produced, I
think, the handsomest swine that I see. I want to know if
there is a better cross that will produce hogs that can be
fatted at from nine to twelve months old with profit. Can
you, Mr. Chairman, or you, Mr. Dillon, or can anybody give
me any information that will enable me to get a better hog
than that, or one that will at that age produce from three
to four hundred pounds of pork, and do it at a profit, any
better than the cross between the Yorkshire and the Chester
White ?

Mr. Flint. It strikes me there is one point that might
have been brought out a little more distinctly in Mr. Harris's
paper, and may be brought out in reply to Dr. Wakefield's
question.

It seems to me, from what I hear among farmers, that it is
for the interest of Massachusetts farmers generally to breed
the small breeds rather than large. I think the impression
among the more intelligent farmers is, that the smaller breeds
can be fed with greater economy, and with more satisfactory
results, in the main, than the Chester County and the other
larger breeds. I merely throw that out as a general principle.

Dr. Wakefield. I can get lar^e ho^s enough, if I can
keep them long enough ; I have no trouble in that direction.
•But what I want, as I have said, is a hog that will weigh from
three to four hundred pounds, when it is nine or twelve
months old. If there is such a breed, that is what I want, in
preference to what I have got.

Adjourned to two o'clock, p.m.

204 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Afternoon Session.

The Convention met at the hour appointed, Mr. Flint in
the Chair.

OBSERVATIONS UPON THE PHENOMENA OF PLANT-LIFE.

BY PRESIDENT W. S. CLARK.

The observations concerning "The Circulation of Sap in
Plants," which I had the honor of presenting before the
Board of Agriculture at their last country meeting, were so
kindly received at the time, and awakened so much interest
after their publication, that I have found it impossible to
refrain from further investigations upon the phenomena of
plant-life. Among the subjects to which special attention
has been directed during the year, the following may be
enumerated, viz. :

First. The structure, composition and arrangement of the
winter-buds of hardy trees and shrubs. Specimens for study
were collected, in January and February last, from one hun-
dred and forty species, and some facts of interest recorded.

Second. The percentage of water to be found in the
branches and roots of trees during their annual period of
repose, as well as when in active growth.

Third. The phenomena and causes of the flow of sap from
wounds in trees when denuded of their foliage, as well as the
flow from the stumps of woody and herbaceous plants when
cut near the ground in summer. In connection with this
subject, an attempt has been made to determine what species
flow, how rapidly and copiously, and under what circum-
stances.

The pressure exerted by the sap exuded from detached
roots of trees under ground, as well as that exhibited upon
gauges placed at different elevations from the earth, has also
been very carefully observed upon a number of species.

The facts determined are even more remarkable than were
noticed last year, and are particularly important in the case
of the sugar-maple.

PHENOMENA OF PLANT-LIFE. 205

Fourth. The structure and functious of the bark of ex-
ogenous trees, with special reference to the circulation of sap,
the formation of wood and the effects of girdling, — concerning
all which points many experiments have been undertaken
with satisfactory results.

Fifth. An attempt has been made to measure the expan-
sive force of growing vegetable tissue, and in connection with
this experiment numerous other interesting observations have
been reached.

These investigations have been instituted by myself ; but in
carrying them out, I have enjoyed the valuable, and, in many
cases, indispensable, assistance of gentlemen connected with
the Agricultural College, either as officers or students. Due
credit will be given to each in stating the results of his
work.

To succeed as an original investigator in science, one must
possess some of the noblest qualities of mind and heart. He
must be absolutely and accurately honest, and in his methods
of demonstration there must be no guess-work. He has need
of a patience which is inexhaustible, a zeal and energy which
never flag, and a spirit of devotion to his work which utterly
ignores self as separated from the object to be accomplished.
He must also have a well-disciplined mind, and skill in the
use of books and apparatus. To produce such men, who
shall, at the same time, be familiar with all the great princi-
ples and problems of agriculture, is the highest possible
achievement of our College. One such graduate will do more
for the advancement of the art, and the honor of the profes-
sion and the benefit of mankind, than would a host of mere
farm-apprentices possessed only of manual skill and a knowl-
edge of simple, routine practice, however well adapted to any
particular locality or style of farming.

I am well aware that there are persons who hold a respect-
able position in society, and yet are so ignorant as to regard
with contempt all efforts at scientific research. They ridicule
the attachment of gauges to trees, and the harnessing of
squashes, and the microscopic and chemical analysis of plants,
as of no earthly use, except, perhaps, to gratify an idle
curiosity. But how shall agriculture be improved without
the application to it of the principles of science ; and how

206 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

shall these be applied unless they are discovered ; and how
shall they be known, if they are not sought? In no way can
the wealth of the world be increased so surely as by the
liberal endowment of institutions for the special purpose of
securing experiments in all departments of science which have
a direct connection with agriculture, especially in chemistry
and in animal and vegetable physiology. When we consider
that, to observe the transit of Venus during the present
month, expeditions have been sent to different parts of the
earth, at a cost of more than a million of dollars, we may, at
least, hope* that scientific observations upon things nearer
home, and having more to do with every-day life, will soon
be appreciated and supported.

We are told that when the illustrious scientist, Faraday,
who devoted his life to original research, was asked by some
practical individual what was the use of one of his famous
discoveries, he answered him by propounding another equally
pertinent question, namely, "What is the use of a baby?"
The possible results are in both cases of transcendent moment,
but iu neither can they be foretold. It is enough to know
that every new truth is an open door to some further dis-
covery and to some useful invention.

It has been well said that it is comparatively easy to know
something about everything, but very difficult to learn every-
thing about anything. Remembering that we are enveloped
by inexplicable mysteries, and that abundant material for
investigation lies everywhere about us, we have attempted to
study that most familiar plant, the squash, — and the results
have far surpassed our most sanguine expectations.

The particular species selected for observation is named
Cucurbita maxima, and the variety is called, by Gregory,
the mammoth yellow Chili. It is said to be a native of the
Levant, and to have been introduced into England in 1547.
It is sometimes called the French pumpkin, and its fruit
readily attains a weight of one hundred and fifty pounds.
One has been grown in England which weighed two hundred
and forty-six pounds.

Squashes indigenous to tropical America were cultivated
by the Indians long before the occupation of this continent
by the whites.

POWER OF MUSHROOMS. 207

The Cucurbitaceoe are a small, but very useful order of the
vegetable kingdom, numbering about three hundred and fifty
species, which are chiefly natives of warm regions. The
most valuable species are the squash, the pumpkin, the
cucumber, the water-melon, the musk-melon and the gourd,
of all which there are numerous varieties.

These plants are generally herbaceous, and trailing or
climbing by means of tendrils. Their stems, leaf-stalks,
tendrils and fruits are often hollow, and their tissues very
soft and succulent.

The flowers are usually large, and either yellow or white,
and of two or three sorts on the same plant. The fruit is
commonly a pepo, the structure of which is familiar to all.

The following considerations suggested the idea of experi-
menting with the mammoth squash :

First. It is a well-known fact that beans, acorns and other
seeds often lift comparatively heavy masses of earth in forcing
their way up to the light in the process of germination.

Second. We have all heard how common mushrooms have
displaced flagging- stones, many years since, in Basingstoke,
and, more recently, in Worcester, England. In the latter
case, only a few weeks ago, a gentleman noticing that a stone
in the walk near his residence had been disturbed, went for
the police, under the impression that burglars were preparing
some plot against him. Upon turning up the stone, which
weighed eighty pounds, the rogues were discovered in the
shape of three giant mushrooms.

Third. Bricks and stones are often displaced by the growth
of the roots of shade-trees in streets. Cellar and other walls
are frequently injured in a similar way.

Fourth. There is a common belief that the growing roots
of trees frequently rend asunder rocks on which they stand,
by penetrating and expanding within their crevices.

Having never heard of any attempt to measure the expan-
sive force of a growing plant, we determined to experiment
in this direction.

We were surprised, last year, in testing the pressure
exerted by the sap of various trees, to find that a black birch-
root detached from the tree, was able to force water to the
height of eighty-six feet. We were therefore somewhat pre-

208 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

pared for an exhibition of considerable power, but the results
of our trials have, nevertheless, been most astonishing.

At first, we thought of trying the expansive force of some
small, hard, green fruit, such as a hickory-nut or a pear, but
the expansion was so slow, and the attachment of the fruit
to the tree so fragile, that this idea was abandoned. The
squash, growing on the ground with great rapidity and to an
enormous size, seemed, on the whole, the best fruit for the
experiment.

Accordingly, seeds having been obtained from Mr. J. J. H.
Gregory, of Marblehead, they were planted on the first of
July in one of the propagating pits of the Durfee Plant-House,
where the temperature and moisture could be easily con-
trolled. A rich bed of compost from a spent hot-bed was
prepared, which was four feet wide, fifty feet long, and about
six inches in depth. Here, under the fostering care of Prof.
Maynard, the seeds germinated, the vine grew vigorously,
and the squash lifted in a most satisfactory manner.

Never before has the development of a squash been observed
more critically, or by a greater number of people. Many
thousands of men, women and children, from all classes of
society, and of various nationalities, and from all quarters of
the earth, visited it. Mr. D. P. Penhallow watched with it
several days and nights, making hourly observations. Prof.
H. W. Parker was moved to write a poem about it, and
Prof. J. H. Seelye declared that he positively stood in
awe of it.

Vegetable growth consists in the development of the several
parts of a plant, according to a definite, predetermined plan
as regards the form, size and other characteristics of each
species. It results from the activity of a certain peculiar
inherent force, called life. Under the influence of this force,
stimulated to action by heat and light, plants absorb, digest
and assimilate mineral matter, converting it into the various
organic substances which enter into their composition. Ex-
amined under the microscope, all parts of plants are found
to consist primarily of closed cells, cohering into masses of
various forms and containing protoplasm.

Growth is caused by the increase of cells in number and in
size. In a growing portion of a plant, as at the tip of the

FUNCTIONS OF THE KOOT. 209

stem, the first-formed cells are subdivided, and then the sub-
divisions enlarge to the normal size, and this process goes on
while growth continues. All vegetable material is primarily
formed in the leaves or green parts of ordinary plants, and,
by a vital process of circulation, is transferred in a liquid
form to its proper destination.

The seed is a minute plant, consisting of a radical or little
root, a terminal bud called the plumule, and one or more
seed-leaves, all snugly packed away in a shell for safe keep-
ing during transportation. In order that the sprouting plant-
let may be able to get hold of the earth for its water and
mineral supplies, and have substance enough to reach up into
the light and air where it is to find its future carbon, the seed-
leaves, or cotyledons, are formed of very condensed and com-
plex materials, — such as oil, sugar, starch and albuminoids.
The requisite conditions of germination for a sound, living
seed are air, water, and a moderate degree of heat. The
time intervening between the planting of a seed and the
appearance of the root varies from a few hours to many
months. It may be hastened in some cases by scalding the
seed for a few minutes in hot water, or by the judicious use
of a solution of camphor, sal-ammoniac, or oxalic acid. The
cotyledons of the squash-seed are pushed up into the air,
where they expand and thicken, assume a green color, and for
a time perform the functions of true leaves.

The root is the first part of a plant to grow, and develops
downward, as if affected by the force of gravity. Light
neither hurts nor helps the root, but water is essential to its
life, and for this it penetrates the soil in every direction. It
is the special function of the root to absorb and furnish to the
rest of the plant, water, nitrogenous matter, and such soluble
minerals as each species requires for its use. For this pur-
pose it is admirably adapted by its peculiar structure, sub-
stance and mode of increase. The older portion of roots
serves to sustain the stem and hold it in place, and also acts
as a reservoir of supplies to the plant. The younger roots
usually branch off in an irregular manner, and elongate by the
multiplication of cells near their extremities. The tips of
roots are usually very minute fibres of exceedingly delicate
tissue, which insinuate themselves into the pores of the soil,

27

210 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

and then, by the expansive power of growth, enlarge these
capillary channels to any required size.

Roots of ordinary plants grow most freely in a loose, well-
drained soil, containing the essential elements of plant-food in
a soluble form. They absorb their water from the surface of
the molecules of the soil, to which they attach themselves by
very minute, cellular papilla?, called root-hairs. These hairs
are much more numerous in a soil moderately dry than in
one which is wet and heavy. The most vigorous plants have
the largest number and greatest extent of roots. Hence
the importance of deep and thorough tillage in preparing the
ground for crops. The growth of a plant depends chiefly
upon the amount of water which is exhaled by its leaves, and
this necessarily depends upon the supply furnished by the
the roots. The folly of ploughing between rows of corn, or
other plants, after their roots have spread widely through the
soil, is self-evident. Prof. L. B. Arnold says he has known
the maturing of a corn-crop postponed ten days by ploughing
it at the last hoeing.

The penetrating power and tendency of roots is wTell illus-
trated in the case of an apple-tree on the College farm, which
forced its roots down through a mass of coarse gravel eight

O CO

feet, to obtain a supply of water. The stones were about the
size of hens' eggs, and so closely packed by the waters of the
drift period which deposited them, that the cylindrical form
of the roots was entirely destroyed. The growing tissues
pressed themselves into every crevice so as actually to
surround and enclose the adjoining pebbles. (Fig. 17.) A
similar root of an elm was recently dug up in Westfield, Mass. ,
and presented to the College museum by Mr. B. H. Averell.
Prof. Stockbridge, last fall, washed out a root of common clo-
ver, one year old, growing in the alluvial soil near the Connec-
ticut River, and found that it descended perpendicularly to the
depth of eight feet. Mr. Mechi, of Tiptree Hall, England,
tells us that the reason clover is usually so short-lived, is the
fact that the lower roots are either unable to penetrate the
subsoil or to find in it the requisite supplies of food. He
also states that his neighbor, Mr. Dixon, of Riven Hall, dug
a parsnip which measured thirteen feet six inches in length,
but, unfortunately, was broken at that depth.

FIFTEEN MILES OF ROOT. 211

The roots of lucerne often penetrate to the depth of more
than twenty feet, while the tap-roots of trees, continuing
to grow for a long period, descend still further. A Brit-
ish officer in India reports that the root of a leguminous
tree — the Prosopis spicigera — is often dug for economical pur-
poses, and that he has seen an excavation sixty-nine feet deep
made for such a root without reaching its lower extremity.
The roots of trees are well known to extend in a horizontal
direction to surprising distances, and to exert a very delete-
rious influence on crops in their vicinity. The living roots
of an elm, in Amherst, were found in abundance at a distance
of seventy-five feet from the trunk, which was just the height
of the tree. It has recently been stated in "The Field,"
an English paper, that the roots of an elm were found to
obstruct a tile-drain which was four hundred and fifty feet
from the tree.

But our squash-vine affords the most astonishing demonstra-
tion of all that has been said about root-development. Grow-
ing under the most favorable circumstances, the roots attained
a number and an aggregate length almost incredible. The

GO o O

primary root from the seed, after penetrating the earth about
four inches, terminated abruptly and threw out adventitious
branches in all directions. In order to obtain an accurate
knowledge of their development, the entire bed occupied by
them was saturated with water, and, after fifteen hours,
numerous holes were bored through the plank-bottom, and
the earth thus washed away. After many hours of most
patient labor, the entire system of roots was cleaned and
spread out upon the floor of a large room, where they were
carefully measured. The main branches extended from twelve
to fifteen feet, and their total length, including branches, was
more than two thousand feet. At every node, or joint, of the
vine, was also produced a root. One of these nodal roots was
washed out and found to be four feet long, and to have four
hundred and eighty branches, averaging, with their branch-
lets, a length of thirty inches, making a total of more than
twelve hundred feet. As there were seventy nodal roots,
there must have been more than fifteen miles in length
on the entire vine. There were certainly more than eighty
thousand feet; and of these, fifty thousand feet must have

212 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

been produced at the rate of one thousand feet or more
per day.

Now, it has been said, that corn may be heard to grow in
a still, warm night, and it has been proved that a root of corn
will elongate one inch in fifteen minutes. But here are twelve
thousand inches of increase in twenty-four hours. What
lively times in the soil, where such vital force is at work !
The wonder is, we do not hear the building of these roots as
it goes on.

But in addition to the movements caused by the increase of
the roots among the particles of the soil, we should remember
that solution, chemical affinity, diffusion and capillarity, as
well as the absorption of the feeding rootlets, are incessantly
at work beneath the surface of the silent earth. With what
amazement should we behold the development of a crop upon
a fertile field, if we could but see with our eyes the things
which are kuown to transpire !

Let us next consider some peculiarities of plant-growth
which were exhibited in the development of the squash-vine,
with its appendicular organs — the leaves and the tendrils,
and its reproductive organs — the flowers and the fruit.

The peculiar feature of the vegetable stem is the bud, by
which it is always terminated, even in the seed. A bud is
an aggregation of delicate cells, filled with protoplasm, and
endowed with special vitality. Sometimes it is very minute
and simple in structure, and sometimes large and complicated.
As the stem elongates, it usually produces, at regular inter-
vals, leaves, in the axils of which are formed buds, which, in
growing, become the terminal buds of branches. The places
where leaves are borne are called nodes, and the spaces on the
stem between these are styled intemodes. Every species of
plant has a definite law for the arrangement of its leaves.
Our squash produced one leaf at each node, and all the leaves
were arranged in two rows on opposite sides of the stem.
The vital force in the tip of the vine was very active and
vigorous, and displayed its power in the constant organization
of new* nodes. Thus, when we examined the terminal inch
of the vine, we found no less than twenty-five young leaves,
and in the axils of these twenty-five flowers, including five
young squashes, twenty-five branching tendrils, and twenty-

FUNCTIONS OF THE LEAF. 213

five buds for lateral branches. These were continually repro-
duced, so that when the vine was growing nine inches a day,
as well as after it had developed one hundred nodes, the num-
ber was always about the same. All parts of the vine and
its appendages increased with marked uniformity. Back of
the first inch, which may be regarded as the terminal bud,
about six nodes were developing at the same time. The
growth was most rapid in the terminal portion of each node,
and the leaves were not modified particularly in form during
the period of development. The lengthening of the vine pro-
ceeded somewhat irregularly, varying from nothing to nine-
sixteenths of an inch per hour. It was usually less between
midnight and sunrise than at other hours.

The longest growth of the main vine in twenty-four hours
was observed August 15th and 16th, from 7 a. m. to 7 a. m.,
and amounted to nine inches. The laterals were removed when
two or three feet in length. The total extent of the main
vine was fifty-two feet, and the number of nodes was one hun-
dred. At each node of the fully-developed vine were found a
large leaf; a long, branching tendril, resembling the veins of a
leaf, without the intervening cellular tissue ; a staminate flower
on a long stalk, or a pistillate flower on a short stalk ; a
lateral branch, and, on the under side of the vine, a long,
branching root. The function of this root was evidently to
supply water to the leaf above it, and its development, of
course, depended chiefly upon the nutrient material elaborated
by this leaf. These nodal roots not only furnished a much
larger feeding-ground for the plant, but saved an immense
amount of mechanical work in reducing the distances through
which the crude and elaborated saps ihust be carried.

The largest leaves of the squash-vine were nearly circular,
and slightly lobed, with a diameter of two feet and a half,
and a superficial area of about seven hundred square inches.
The leaf-stalks were hollow, two feet in length, and curiously
marked with vertical striae, alternately light and dark in color.
The light lines were found to contain bundles of fibro-vascular
tissue, while the dark ones were simple cellular tissue, con-
taining chlorophyl.

The special functions of the leaf are to absorb carbonic acid
from the atmosphere, and, by a process of digestion, form

214 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

from its carbon and the elements of water, the soluble starch
and sugar out of which the tissues of the plant are con-
structed; to exhale the surplus water of the crude sap, and
thus aid in its ascension from the s'oil and the roots ; to exhale
the oxygen set free in the process of digestion, and thus to
purify the air for the respiration of animals ; and, finally, to
exhale, at night especially, the surplus carbonic acid liberated
within the plant in the process of vegetable respiration, which
appears to be as necessary and constant as that of animals.
It seems also most probable that the albuminoids, or proto-
plasmic substances, are first produced in the leaf, and thence
transferred to the various localities, where they are needed in
the process of growth.

To facilitate and control the absorption and exhalation of
gases and aqueous vapor, leaves are furnished with breath-
ing-pores, or stomates, which open under the stimulus of
light and moisture, and close in darkness, or when scantily
supplied with water. These stomates are about twice as
numerous on the under as on the upper side of the squash-
leaf, and the total number is about one hundred and fifty thou-
sand to the square inch, or more than one hundred millions
on each large leaf. One leaf of the great water-lily, Victoria
regia, nine feet in diameter, contains about twenty-four hun-
dred millions of stomates on its upper side, and none on its
under surface, where they would be useless.

During the past year much has been written and said about
carnivorous plants, which catch great numbers of insects for
the apparent purpose of feeding upon them. When a fly
alights on the leaf of a Dioncca, the two halves close upon it
and hold it fast until consumed, when they open for another.
The leaf of a species of Drosera, in New Jersey, is said to
have the power of moving towards an insect, fastened within
half an inch of it, and feeding upon it. The pitcher-shaped
leaves of Sarracenia variolaris not only seem to possess the
power of enticing insects to climb from the ground to the
inside of their pitchers, by secreting a vertical line of honey
on the outside, and also a line around the edge of the cup,
but they prevent their escape by an ingenious arrangement of
hairs, which continually force them downward as they attempt
to fly out. When they thus reach the bottom of their prison,

INSTINCT OF PLANTS. 215

they come in contact with a fluid which first paralyzes them,
and then hastens their decay and absorption.

Not less wonderful are the instinctive movements by which
climbing plants seek for, and attach themselves to, a support.
Twining vines, like the hop, the bean, and the morning-glory,
exhibit a revolving movement of their extremities, until they
come in contact with some object around which to coil. Each
species has its own peculiar direction, from which most of
them never vary. A few, like the hop, wind from the right
upward towards the left, moving like the hands of a watch,
but most, like the bean, move in an opposite direction. The
squash, however, is not a twining plant, but climbs by means
of tendrils. Nevertheless, the tip of a growing vine revolves
continually from left over to right, in evident search for a
support.

Mr. J. J. H. Gregory informs us, that if a shingle be set
into the ground near the tip of a growing squash-vine, it will,
in a day or two, be seen turning towards it; and that, if the
shingle be removed to the opposite side, the direction of the
vine will again be changed. He also states that he has
observed a squash-vine, after running along on the ground ten
or twelve feet, and then passing under the branches of a tree
which were four feet above it, to stop and turn upward towards
the branches. After growing in this direction till it could no
longer sustain itself, the vine fell to the ground ; but instead
of proceeding horizontally, it again rose into the air, again to
fail. A third effort was made before the plant was willing to
give up and trail humbly on the earth.

The end of the vine under observation was constantly
elevated to the sash-bars and glass above it, sometimes to the
height of two feet, and as it increased in length, was pushed
along against them. The extent and velocity of the terminal
motion were doubtless greatest in August, when growth was
most rapid. The record, however, was made in November.
The time occupied in each revolution was variable, and the
long diameter of the ellipse described, which was horizontal,
measured about two inches.

The tendrils of the squash-vine were produced at the nodes,
and the main stalk was hollow and divided into several
branches at a point three or four inches distant from the vine.

216 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

These branches spread out in various directions, and attained
a length of six or' eight inches. Each branch gradually
straightened out from the coil in which it first appeared, and
increased in length. When about two-thirds developed, it
began to revolve, so that its hooked tip described an ellipse
several inches in diameter. Its revolution was made by a
series of bendings, in such a way as not to twist itself. The
tendrils moved in the same direction with the tip of the vine,
but somewhat irregularly both as to time and to the figure
described. During the day, the ellipse was broad, and at
night, long and narrow. Usually, the motioii was scarcely
perceptible to the eye, but sometimes it moved two inches in
five minutes. The average time of revolution in November
was about three hours. If touched by the finger on the
sensitive or inner side, the tendril bent towards the place
where the finger was, and, not finding it, straightened itself
again. If, however, it came in contact with any object to
which it could cling, it bent at the point of contact, and the
concave curvature extended along the inside of the branch,
until the extremity was wound closely around the support.
Other branches would, also, fasten to the same object, if pos-
sible. The tendril, thus attached, increased in size and firm-
ness, and soon coiled upon itself in a double reversed spiral,
so as to exert a strain on the support. All the branches
having done this, they pull together and must fail together,
if at all.

Another most obvious benefit derived from this double
spiral, is the elasticity of the fastening, which greatly dimin-
ishes the clanger of rupture by violence. If the tendrils
of the squash failed in finding a support, the branches then
coiled upon themselves, and the main stalk often turned back
along the vine.

The habits of climbing plants have been studied by Mr.
Charles Darwin and others ; but this field for research is by
no means exhausted.

The tendrils of the grape vine are not very sensitive, but
fasten themselves very firmly to a suitable support. The
tendrils of the Coboea scanclens are long, branching, and
tipped with woody claws. They are extensions of the petiole
of a compound leaf, revolve actively, and attach themselves

STRUCTURE OF SQUASH-VINE. 217

in a most marvellous manner. When a revolving branch has
found a support, it contracts so as to bring its extremities in
contact with it. The other branches seek the same object,
and, as they are sensitive on all sides, they fail in many cases
to secure a firm attachment with their claws. They therefore
detach themselves from their support, one at a time in suc-
cession, twist so as to bring their claws into the proper direc-
tion, and then again make fast.

It is well known that most plants grow toward the
strongest light ; but climbing plants are sometimes excep-
tions. English ivy turns its young shoots away from the
light in order that they may come in contact with dark
objects, — such as rocks and trunks of trees, — to which they
then attach themselves by short roots. The tendrils of the
Virginia creeper, or woodbine, are among the most wonder-
ful. They grow away from the light, and send their branches
into crevices of old bark and rocks. Sometimes such tendrils
are said by Mr. Darwin to actually show a power of choosing
one place of attachment in preference to another, by penetrat-
ing a cavity and then withdrawing to seek a more satisfactory
one. As soon as the tendrils of the creeper find a support,
the branches spread out their tips and press them against it.
Little pads of hard cellular tissue are now developed at the
points of contact, and the tendril coils on itself and becomes
very tough and woody. At the end of the first season it
dies, but remains firmly fixed to its support for many years.
Mr. Darwin found one, which, though ten years old, was not
detached by a weight of ten pounds from the wall to which it
had adhered.

The chemical constitution of the squash-vine under obser-
vation has not yet been determined ; but its anatomical
structure, in all its parts, may be readily understood by an
examination of the figures appended to this paper, which are
accompanied by detailed explanations. The vine, the petioles,
the flower-stalks, the tendrils and the fruits were hollow, so
that about thirty per cent, of the apparent size was simply
air. The greater proportion of the remainder was water, so
that less than ten per cent, of the entire volume was solid,
dry material. The large, yellow flowers were arranged in
regular succession, one at each node. A female flower was

2S

218 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

usually succeeded Try four males, so that on such a vine a
squash would be produced at every fifth node, if every one
should set, which, however, never happens. The impregna-
tion of the ovules within the ovary of the female flower
requires the deposition of pollen-grains from the anther-cells
of the male flower upon the stigma of the former under favor-
able circumstances. The stigmatic surface must be in a proper
condition to retain and develop the pollen, which must be in
a perfect state. Bright, warm weather will doubtless aid in
the process, though many observations are still needed con-
cerning this subject. The pollen-grains of the squash are
large and rough, and of a spherical form, and consist of an
outer and inner coating of membrane filled with a proto-
plasmic fluid. In the outer coating is a minute orifice,
through which, when moistened by the saccharine secretion
of the stigma, the inner coating protrudes as a microscopic,
structureless tube, which pushes its way through the tissues
of the style and ovary until it reaches the embryo-sac of an
ovule, which may then become a perfect seed. This contact
of the pollen-tubes with the ovules is essential to the setting
of every squash. The transfer of the pollen-grains to the
stigmas is usually accomplished by insects which fly from
flower to flower in pursuit of food. It may, also, be done
artificially, and there is reason to believe that the crop
of squashes, melons and cucumbers might often be largely
increased by attention to this matter in out-door cultivation.
When grown under glass, fertilization must always be effected
by artificial means.

The pistillate, or female flower, on the twenty-first node of
the growing vine, was artificially impregnated with pollen
from a staminate, or male flower, on the first of August.
The young squash immediately began to enlarge, and, on the
fifteenth of the same month, measured twenty-two inches in
circumference ; on the sixteenth, twenty-four inches, and on
the seventeenth, twenty-seven. Though the rind of the young
fruit was very soft, it was now determined to confine it in
such a way as to test its expansive power. In doing this,
great care was taken to preserve the health and soundness of
every part of tke squash, and to expose at least one-half of
its surface to the air and the light. The apparatus for test-

HARNESS FOR SQUASH. 219

ing its growing force consisted of a frame, or bed, of seven
inch boards, one foot long. These were arranged in a radial
maimer, like the spokes of the lower half of a wheel, their
inner edges being turned toward the central axis. These
pieces were held firmly in place by two end-boards, twelve
inches square, to the lower half of which they were secured
by nails and iron rods. A hemi-ellipsoidal cavity, about five
inches deep in the centre and eight inches long, was cut from
the inner edges of the seven boards, and in this the squash
was carefully deposited, the stem and vine being carefully
protected by blocks of wood from injury by compression.
Over the squash was placed a semi-cylindrical harness, or
basket of strap-iron, firmly rivetted together. The meshes
between the bands, which crossed each other at right-angles,
were about one inch and a half square. The harness was
twelve inches long and the same in width, so that when placed
over the squash, it just filled the space between the end-
boards. Upon the top of the harness, and parallel with the
axis of the cylinder and the squash, wras fastened a bar of
iron with a knife-edge to serve as the fulcrum of a lever to
support the weights by which the expansive force was to be
measured. At first, an iron bar, one inch square, was used
for a lever, then a larger bar of steel, then a lever of chest-
nut plank, then one of seasoned white oak plank, and, finally,
one of chestnut, five by six inches square, and nine feet long ;
but even this required to be strengthened by a plate of iron
f)iir inches wide by half an inch thick and five feet in length.
The fulcrum for the lever was also renewed from time to time
as the weight was increased.

The following table shows the weight of iron lifted by the
squash in the course of its development : —

August

21,

t i

22,

a

23,

a

24,

a

25,

i i

26,

<<

27,

(<

31,

60 pou

69

91
162
225
277
356
500

ids.

220

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

September

11,

<c

13,

it

14,

(<

15,

t(

27,

a

30,

October

3,

<(

12,

a

18,

<<

24,

<«

31,

1,100 p

on nets

1,200

i i

1,300

n

1,400

i i

1,700

i i

2,015 ,

a

2,115

a

2,500

1 1

3,120

a

4,120

a

5,000

(t

The last weight was not clearly raised, though it was car-
ried ten days, on account of the failure of the harness irons,
which bent at the corners under the enormous pressure of
two mid a half tons, and consequently broke through the
rind of the squash. It was not feasible to remove the har-
ness and substitute for it a stouter one, on account of its
being imbedded in the substance of the squash, which grew
up through the meshes of the harness, forming protuberances
an inch and a half high and overlying the iron bands. When,
on the seventh of November, the harness was removed in
order to take a plaster cast of the squash, it was necessary
to cut the straps with a cold-chisel, sometimes into several
pieces, and draw them out endways.

The growing squash adapted itself to whatever space it
could find as readily as if it had been a mass of caoutchouc ;
nor did it ever show the slightest tendency to crack, except
in the epidermis. This would often open in minute seams,
from which a turbid mucilaginous fluid exuded. In the
morning drops of this would frequently bedew the protuber-
ances like drops of perspiration. In the sunshine these dried
up and fell off as minute globules, resembling gum Arabic.

The lifting power was greatest after midnight, when the
growth of the vine and the exhalation from the foliage was
least.

The material out of which the squash was formed was
elaborated in the leaves during the day-time, and transferred
through the vine to the stem. Through this it was imbibed
by the living, growing cells of the squash, which were con-

PRESSURE OF SQUASH-SAP. 221

stantly multiplying by subdivision until their number was
many billions, notwithstanding the enormous pressure under
which they were forced to develop. This growth was possi-
ble only because life is a molecular force and exerted its
almost irresistible power over an immense surface of cell
membrane.

Scarcely less astonishing than the mechanical force exhib-
ted was the ability of the tissues of the squash to resist
chemical changes and. the attacks of mould, when the rind
was injured by bruises or cuts. Whenever fresh-growing
cells were exposed to the action of the air, they immediately
began to form a regular periderm of cork, precisely similar
in appearance and structure to that produced upon the cork-
oak, the elm, and other trees.

The form of the squash can hardly be described, but may
be seen in the drawings which show the upper and under
sides. The weight was forty-seven pounds and a quarter,
and when opened the rind was found to be about three inches
thick and unusually hard and compact. The internal cavity
corresponded in general form to the exterior, but was very
small, and nearly filled with fibrous tissue and plump and
apparently perfect seeds in about the normal number. A
squash of the same variety, grown in the field by Messrs.
Russell Brothers, in North Hadley, weighed one hundred and
twenty-three pounds. Its form was ovoid, but flattened as if
by its own weight, and the cavity within had a capacity of
about sixteen quarts.

Two vines having been started together in our experimen-
tal bed, it was decided to apply a mercurial gauge (such as
will be described in another place) to the neck of one cut off
at the ground, when the vine was about eight wrecks old and
had a length of twelve feet. The result was quite surpris-
ing, greatly surpassing anything heretofore recorded, so far
as wTe are aware, concerning the pressure exerted by the sap
of an herbaceous plant, the maximum force with which the
root of the squash exuded the water absorbed by it being
equal to a column of water 48.51 feet in height. The gauge
was applied about noon, August 27th. At 2 p. m., August
28th, the temperature of the pit being 86° Fahrenheit, the
pressure on the gauge equalled 31.70 feet of water.

222 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

At 4, p. m., Aug. 28, it was 29.47 feet, Temp. 75° Fahr.

( (

9,

a

I I

28,

a

25.78

i i

(<

63°

i i

7,

A. M.

4 (

29,

c i

32.30

a

((

63°

I i

2,

P. M.

29,

a

42.59

ii

c<

85°

( i

9,

a

( i

29,

i i

48.51

I i

. t i

65°

i t

8,

A. 51.

>

30,

c<

39.33

i i

a

70°

i t

12,

M.

((

30,

i t

35.25

i I

i i

84°

I i

7,

A. M.

>

31,

a

27.88

1 1

a

67°

i I

8,

<<

Sept.

1,

a

00.00

( (

i i

00°

[For illustrations relating to the squash, see figures 1-1G.]

Gauges were also attached to the stumps of large plants of
Indian corn, tobacco, and the dahlia. The results were not
specially different from what has been previously observed by
Hofmeister and others. The flow continued but a very few
days, and the pressure varied from eight to twenty-five feet
of water. The pressure in all these cases seems to bo caused
by the activity of the absorbent tissues of the root ; and its
cessation results, doubtless, from the stagnation of the sap in
the gorged cells and vessels, and the consequent decay of the
root-hairs and fibres.

The frequent displacement of flagging-stones, and the dam-
age often done to brick and concrete pavements and stone
walls by the roots of shade trees, considered in connection
with the wonderful expansive power exhibited by the squash
in harness, made it. evident that growing roots of firm wood
must be capable of exerting, under suitable conditions, a
tremendous mechanical force. Upon searching the fields for
examples of trees standing upon naked rocks, or ridges
covered with only a shallow soil, many interesting specimens
were readily discovered to demonstrate this fact.

In South Hadley, Mass., a sugar maple was found which
had gri wn upon a horizontal bed of red sandstone. The tree
stood upon the naked rock, over which its roots extended a
few feet in three directions into the soil. One root had
pushed its way under a slab of rock which measured more
than twenty-four cubic feet, and must have weighed about
two tons. In the course of twenty years or more, this root
had developed to such a size as to raise the slab entirely from
the bed-rock and from the earth, and so that it rested wholly

LIFTING POWER OF ROOTS. 223

upon the wood. Upon examining the tree, it was evident
that as it stood upon the horizontal roots whrch rested on
solid rock and had a diameter of nearly a foot ; and as they
had grown by the deposition of an annual layer of wood en-
tirely around them ; and as the heart, now several inches from
the rock, must once have rested on it; and as the rock could
not have been depressed, — therefore, the tree had been lifted
every year by the growing wood of the outside layer.

Another tree of paper birch having been found growing in
a similar manner, one of the horizontal roots was sawed
through, and the centre of the heart was seen to have been
elevated seven inches since the tree was a seedling.

Mr. William F. Flint, a student in the Agricultural College
of New Hampshire, has rendered valuable assistance in find-
ing specimens of trees which illustrate this principle in an
admirable manner. Drawings of two such examples selected
from a large number furnished by him are appended to this
paper. (Figs. 18, 19.)

Now it is clearly demonstrated that the power of vegetable
growth can lift a tree, and that it must do so, whenever the
bed of the roots cannot be depressed. It is evident also that
old trees on a clay hard-pan or any other unyielding subsoil
must be thrown up by the process of growth. Eveiy person
is familiar with the fact that large trees usually have the ap-
pearance of having been thus raised, and their roots are often
bare for a considerable distance around the trunk.

This lifting of the tree from its bed would seem to be ad-
vantageous to it by tightening the roots so as to hold it firmly
in pj»ace, notwithstanding the possible elongation of their
woody fibre by the tremendous strains to which they are sub-
jected during violent storms. This method of securing the
tree in place would be still further improved by the constant
enlargement of the roots by the annual deposition of a layer
of wood, and the consequent filling of an}' spaces formed in
the soil by the movements of the roots, caused by the sway-
ing of the tree in the wind.

This slight annual elevation of trees by the increase in di-
ameter of their horizontal roots furnishes an explanation for
the ditferences of opinion in regard to the question whether a
given point on the trunk of a tree is raised in the process of

224 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

its growth. While it has been demonstrated by Prof. Asa Gray-
that two points in a vertical line on the trunk of a tree will not
separate as it enlarges, it seems equally clear that both of
them may be quite perceptibly elevated in the course of time.

It has been stated on good authority that, at Walton Hall,
in England, a mill-stone was to be seen, in 1863, in the cen-
tre of which was growing a filbert tree, which had completely
filled the hole in the stone, and actually raised it from the
ground. The tree was said to have been produced from a nut,
which was known to have germinated in 1812. The above
story has been declared false, because, as asserted, the tree
coidd not have exerted any lifting power upon the stone. It
is, however, not difficult to see that it may be true, and is even
probable.

Yet it should be remembered that the amount of elevation,
in any case where it occurs from the increase in the size of
horizontal roots, must depend upon the firmness of the mate-
rial on which they rest, and can never exceed one-half the
diameter of the largest roots. When, therefore, a writer, as
has happened, asserts that, during a visit to Washington Irv-
ing at Sunnyside, he carved his name upon the bark of a tree
beneath which he was sitting in conversation with the illustri-
ous author, and that many years after he went to the place,
and with much difficulty discovered the identical inscription,
high up among the branches, far above his reach, it is alto-
gether probable that his feelings were too many and too ex-
alted for the ordinary use of his intellectual faculties.

Since the publication of the paper on the " Circulation of
the Sap in Plants," in the last volume of the Agriculture of
Massachusetts, a course of lectures on the " Physiology of
the Circulation in Plants, in the Lower Animals, and in Man,"
by Dr. J. Bell Pettigrew, has been published by Macmillan &
Co., of London. The hypotheses adopted by this author are
quite extraordinary, and evidently announced without the
slightest attempt at demonstration, although he has invented
a new method of accounting for the phenomena of the motions
of the sap. Thus he says, "In trees the sap flows steadily
upward in spring, and steadily downward in autumn." Also,
''Much more sap is taken up than is given off in spring, in
order to administer to the growth of the plant. In autumn,

RECENT HYPOTHESES. 225

when the period of growth is over, this process is reversed,
more sap being given off by the roots than is taken up by
them." Now, this is pure assumption, there being no proof
that the sap of trees escapes from the roots in autumn. In
fact, it appears that the wood of trees contains as much sap in
winter, when at rest, as in the period of most active growth.

Again, Dr. Pettigrew remarks : " It is difficult to understand
how excess of moisture in the ground can be drawn up into
the plant and exhaled by the leaves at one period, and excess
of moisture in the atmosphere seized by the plant, and dis-
charged by the roots at another. The explanation, however,
is obvious, if Ave call to our aid the forces of endosmose and
exosmose. The tree is always full of tenacious, dense saps,
and it is a matter of indifference whether a thinner watery fluid
be presented to its roots or its leaves ; if the thinner fluid be
presented to its roots, then the endosmotic or principal cur-
rent sets rapidly in an upward direction ; if, on the other hand,
the thinner fluid be presented to its leaves, the endosmotic or
principal current sets rapidly in a downward direction."

This explanation is not only false, but superfluous, since no
such circulation can be shown to exist, but is an excellent sam-
ple of the common mode of dealing with this obscure subject.
Instead of seeking to discover the exact facts concerning the
composition and movements of the sap in all parts of the
plant, a display of book-knowledge is made by quoting from
numerous writers of some repute, such statements as seem to
corroborate the hypotheses of the author. The assumed phe-
nomena of the circulation are then accounted for in an appar-
ently scientific manner by ingenious allusions to osmose, cap-
illarity, and other physical forces, the surprising possibilities
of which are duly recounted.

Dr. Pettigrew further observes, that "Herbert Spencer be-
lieves that the upward and downward circulation of crude and
elaborated saps takes place in a single system of vessels or
vertical tubes." To explain this extraordinary assumption,
Mr. Spencer states that "the vessels of the branches termi-
nate in club-shaped expansions in the leaves, which expan-
sions act as absorbent organs, and may be compared to the
spongioles of the root. If, therefore, the spongioles of the
root send up the crude sap, it is not difficult to understand
29

226 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

how these spongioles of the leaf send clown the elaborated sap,
one channel sufficing for the transit of both." This hypothesis
concerning the circulation of sap is accepted only by its inventor,
and is directly opposed to most of the facts of plant-growth.

Finally, Dr. Pettigrew has conceived a system of syphons
by the aid of whicji he is able to account to his entire satis-
faction for all he knows concerning the circulation of sap.
He says : "The vessels which convey the sap, as is well known,
are arranged in more or less parallel vertical lines. If the
vessels are united to each other by a capillary plexus, or, what
is equivalent thereto, in the leaves and roots, they are at once,
as has been shown, converted into syphon-tubes, one set
bending upon itself in the leaves, the other set bending upon
itself in the roots. As, however, a certain portion of the
syphon -tubes, which bend upon themselves in the roots,
are porous and virtually open towards the leaves ; while a
certain portion of the syphon-tubes, which bend upon them-
selves in the leaves, are porous and virtually open toward
the roots, — it follows that the contents of the syphon-tubes
may be made to move by an increase or decrease of moisture,
heat, etc., either from above or from below. In spring, the
vessels may be said to consist of one set, because at this period
the leaves and the connecting plexuses which they contain
do not exist. All the vessels at this period may, therefore,
be regarded as carrying sap in an upward direction to form
shoots, buds and leaves, part of the sap escaping laterally,
because of the porosity of the vessels. In summer, when the
leaves are fully formed, the connecting links are supplied by
the capillary vascular expansions formed in them, — the tubes
are in fact converted into syphons. As both extremities of
the syphons are full of sap in spring and early summer, an
upward and a downward current is immediately established.
When the downward current has nourished the plant and
stored up its starched granules for the ensuing spring, the
leaves fall, the syphon structure and action is interrupted, and
all the tubes (they are a second time single tubes) convey mois-
ture from above downward, as happens in autumn. As the
vascular expansions or networks are found also in the stems
of plants, it may be taken for granted that certain of the tubes
are united in spring, the upward rush of sap being followed

IMAGINARY SYPHONS. 227

by a slight downward current, as happens in endosmosc and
exosmose. As, moreover, the spongioles of the roots and
the leaves are analogous structures, and certain tubes are united
in the roots, the downward current in autumn is accompanied
by a slight upward current. This accounts for the fact that
at all periods of the year, the upward, downward and trans-
verse currents exist ; the upward and downward currents be-
ing most vigorous in spring and autumn, and scarcely percep-
tible in winter. Furthermore, as some of the vascular expan-
sions in the leaves are free to absorb moisture, etc., in the
same way that the spongioles are, it follows that tho general
circulation may receive an impulse from the leaves or from the
roots, or both together, the circulation going on in a continu-
ous current in certain vessels."

This original effort of the learned lecturer on physiology,
at Surgeons' Hall, in Edinburgh, published in 1874, to explain
some of the most difficult problems of vegetable life by a
mere hypothesis, which assumes that sap flows in the vessels ;
that there are spongioles in the leaves which absorb water ;
that the sap descends to the roots and escapes from them in
autumn ; and that an imaginary system of syphons does all
these wonderful things, which have not been proved to occur
at all, and which well-informed physiologists are, almost
unanimous in denying, reminds us of the adage that " a
prophet is not without honor save in his own country." This
is not the method of the Baconian philosophy.

In the observations which follow, we hope to add some new
facts to the knowledge of the world concerning the phenom-
ena of plant growth ; but are painfully conscious of the need
of much more investigation before a complete and correct
theory of the circulation of sap can be stated. Exceptions
have been taken to the use of the expression " circulation of
sap"; but since there is an evident distinction between the
crude and elaborated saps, both in their composition and
their location in the plant, at least in the higher forms of
vegetation, and since the circulation of blood is accepted as
a proper term even when applied to animals without a heart,
Ave prefer to retain it in our vocabulary.

In regard to the causes which induce the absorption of
water and soluble substances by the roots of living plants, it

228 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

seems un fortunate that so much has been claimed for osmose
in this connection. Boussingault has recently shown that
roots containing sugar do not exude it when growing in
water, while leaves and fruits, when immersed in this fluid,
readily absorb it by an osmotic process and part with their
sugar. If the enormous absorption of water by the roots of
birch trees, in spring, were accompanied by any correspond-
ing exudation, it would appear easy to find it ; but no one
has yet detected it. It is not possible to account for the fact
that when sap is rising most rapidly, none will flow from a
wound in the bark, even when it will run a stream from the
outer layer of wood, if the circulation in the trunk is caused
by osmose. There is fresh cellular tissue in the liber, and
some soluble material, but the bark remains comparatively
dry till growth begins. After the cambium has become
abundant, why should not all the crude sap press toward it
and draw the elaborated material directly into the wood,
instead of pushing its way against the force of gravity to
the leaves, if osmose is so powerful an agent in the circula-
tion ? If this tendency to press into the bark were to exist,
there would be a much greater flow from places that are
girdled than is now observed ; and probably the bark itself
would be ruptured by the pressure exerted, which would
often be equal to more than thirty pounds to the square
inch.

One of the most surprising facts to be noticed in examin-
ing the wood of any tree with well-developed foliage, is the
entire absence of anything like free or fluid water. A
freshly-eut surface of the sap-wood is not even moist to the
touch ; and if a tube be inserted into the trunk of such a
tree, it will frequently absorb water with great avidity. On
the sixth of June last, a half-inch tube six feet in length was
attached to a stopcock inserted into the trunk of an elm and
the tube filled with water. The absorption was so rapid that
the fluid disappeared in thirty minutes, and this was repeated
several times the same day. Similar observations were made
upon white oak; chestnut and buttonwood trees.

Now the absorption was not osmotic, since the rapidity of
it was too great and there was no outward flow, but appa-
rently the result of imbibition, or the affinity of the cellulose

PER CENT. OF SAP. 229

of the woody fibre for water. Is not this, then, the proper
name for the force which curries up the crude sap ?

The wood of growing trees when cut from near the sur-
face, though apparently dry, contains nearly fifty per cent,
of water; and in the young twigs,. with a living pith, the
proportion is even greater. A number of analyses have been
made of specimens collected at different seasons during the
past year, of which a tabular statement is appended.

There is good reason to believe that the sap in ordinary
trees begins to move first in the buds, and that the first sup-
ply of water exhaled in the spring is derived from the sap-
wood. Branches of aspen and red maple, two feet in length,
were cut on the twenty-sixth of March and placed in a warm
room in an empty vase. The flower-buds developed without
any other water than what they could abstract from the
wood, so that on the fifth day the staminate catkins of the
aspen were four inches long, and the pollen well developed.
It is by no means uncommon to see large branches, which
have been removed from apple trees early in the spring, covered
with blossoms in a similar way while lying on the ground.

It is a Well-established fact that the roots of most woody
plants have not power at any season to force wrater to any
considerable height when separated from their stems. Upon
this point a large number of observations have been made,
which will be described in another place.

The roots of all plants growing on ordinary soil develop
most freely and absorb mosUibundantly when the earth is well
drained and aerated. Thus Ave find that the crude sap im-
bibed by the root-hairs from the surface of the particles of the
soil seems to be taken up in a dry state, that is, it appears to
be absorbed molecule by molecule, no fluid water being visible,
and carried in this form through all the cellulose membranes
between the earth and the leaf, by which it is to be digested
or exhaled. We do not say this is literally true, but it ac-
cords very nearly with what is constantly to be seen in some
species of plants. The circulation of the sap in a poplar tree
is very dry compared with that of the blood of any animal.
Not a drop of moisture will ever flow from the wood of an
aspen, so far as we have observed. Nevertheless, it grows
very freely and starts very early in the season.

230 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

That living cellulose has a peculiar and very powerful
affinity for water is evident from the experiments of De Vries,
who discovered that when a shoot of an herbaceous plant with
lame leaves is cut, and the fresh surface allowed to come for
a short time into contact with the air, it loses much of its
absorbing power and the leaves wilt. If, however, the
section be made under water, so that the living tissue is
not exposed to the air, its power of imbibition remains
unimpaired, and the leaves do not wilt.

It appears, therefore, that much of the crude sap passes
through the membranes of the sap-wood or woody fibre or
cellular tissue of plants in an apparently solid form, combined
with the cellulose, just as the water in dry slacked lime, or a
plaster cast is in a solid form. In all these cases it may be
obtained as a liquid by distillation at a temperature of 212°
Fahrenheit. The cause of the motion seems to be the removal
of the water from the tissue at some point by exhalation, by
chemical combination or by assimilation. Whenever any
portion of the living cellulose has an insufficient amount of
water to saturate its affinity, it imbibes an additional quantity
and this process is continued from cell to cell downward, or
backward to the roots and the earth.

The conducting power of the cellulose of sap-wood is very
remarkable, as is seen in the fact that whenever a limb of an
apple or peach tree breaks down under its burden of fruit, it
very rarely wilts or fails to ripen its crop. Those who have
compared the area of a section of the trunk of a large tree
with the area of a section of its branches at any point above,
must have noticed that the relative amount of sap-wood
rapidly increases as we ascend toward the top, the young
twigs and branches containing no other wood.

An elm in Amherst, famous for the beautiful symmetry of
its form and known as the Ayres elm, was carefully measured
by Prof. Graves and the senior class. The area of the sec-
tions of the branches twenty feet from the ground was more
than twice as great as the area of a section of the trunk four
feet from the earth, and the proportion of sap-wood was of
course much greater.

An interesting experiment was undertaken in the Durfee
Plant-house to determine how small a proportion o/ sap-wood

CONDUCTING POWER OF SAP-WOOD. 231

could conduct the necessary supply of sap to the foliage of a
arrowing tree, and also whether the bark alone could furnish
the requisite water to prevent the leaves from wilting. A
specimen of Hibiscus splendens, standing in the ground and
having three stems from the same root, was selected for trial.
The shrub was growing rapidly, and was prepared for the
experiment as follows : Two of the stems were tied firmly to
stakes, and the third left undisturbed. The first specimen
had all the bark removed from one inch of the stem, and then
the wood was cut away till there remained only a small piece
of the outside layer of sap-wood, which was one inch long and
seven-sixteenths of an inch in circumference. This exposed
surface was immediately covered with grafting-wax, to protect
the tissues from the action of the air. The amount of stem
remaining was just one eighty-fourth of the original, which
was about four inches around. The healthy leaf-surface was
fully twenty-five hundred square inches, from both sides of
which exhalation went on to some extent, making five thou-
sand square inches of exhaling surface. The result was, that
the foliage remained perfectly fresh and vigorous for ten days,
until, on the tenth of November, the specimen was cut for
the museum. (Figs. 20, 21.)

The other stem was used to determine whether by osmose,
or in any other way, the crude sap could ascend in the bark
find supply the leaves with water. All the wood and one-
third of the bark were removed from a portion one-half inteh
in length, the exposed tissues protected by wax, and the
branches so pruned as to leave only five hundred square
inches of leaf-surface. The foliage all drooped in a single
hour and never recovered. This experiment showed that the
bark was altogether incompetent to furnish the requisite
supply of crude sap to the parts above it, although it was
thick and succulent, and much greater in quantity, when com-
pared with the exhaling surface, than the piece of sap-wood
which showed such marvellous conducting power. If osmose
were the cause of the ascent of sap, it would seem that the
abundant parenchyma of the bark, intimately united as it is
with the wood by the medullary rays, must freely transmit
the amount required in this case. But the leaves wilted and
perished as quickly as if the entire stem had been severed.

232 BOAED OF AGRICULTURE.

Having thus demdnstrated that crude sap ascends chiefly
in the sap-wood of exogenous trees, let us now consider a
few facts which appear to prove that there is a counter-move-
ment of elaborated sap which is for the most part confined to
the bark.

It is well known that if a narrow ring of bark be removed
from the trunk of a tree between the leaves and the roots,
then the deposition of wood ceases below the girdled place,
though above it the growth for the season ensuing will be
quite normal. This proves beyond dispute that the wood
cannot convey that portion of the elaborated sap which is
essential to growth, and that it can be conducted only by the
tissues of the bark, or the imperfectly-developed tissues of
the cambium between it and the perfectly-formed wood.
Nevertheless, there is free communication in a transverse
direction for the crude sap and for some of the elaborated
substances between the wood and the bark, probably by
means of the medullary rays which connect the two. Thus
only can we account for the fact that the bark below a girdled
place remains alive long after the deposition of wood ceases,
and also for the circumstance that starch and sugar, which
must originally come from the leaves, are found either accu-
mulated in the cells of certain stems and roots, or existing in
the sap which flows or is expressed from their tissues. If we
shave off, little by little, the bark of a maple when the sap is
flowing freely, we shall observe no exudation from any por-
tion of the liber, even, but as soon as the whole of this is
removed, the sap issues from every part of the surface.

Again ; those who work with mill-logs tell us that in the
spring the bark becomes soft and loose, precisely as if the
tree were standing, at least in the case of some species.
Sometimes logs and poles, cut for fences, will sprout and
actually produce shoots with foliage, the sap of which must
be derived wholly from the timber, and must, therefore, pass
from the wood to the bark.

Mr. Wm. F. Flint has sent us a piece of a red maple slab,
which he found on moist ground, under a pile of wood, and
which had thrown out at the ends and sides a callous a
quarter of an inch thick, precisely like an ordinary cutting of
a grape vine. Here we have an instance of growth without

TEANSVERSE DIFFUSION. 233

either roots, buds, or leaves, all the material for which must
have been derived from the stick itself. (Fig. 22.)

Similar to this in character is the curious circumstance, not
very uufrequent, of old potatoes resolving themselves into sev-
eral smaller ones, within the skin of the parent tuber, without
any external appearance of vegetation. This is reported to
have occurred in a vast number of tubers, in a quantity of po-
tatoes on board a vessel in the Arctic ocean, where the low
temperature probably exerted some influence in causing this
peculiar mode of sprouting.

An excellent demonstration of the transverse diffusion of
sap was obtained in some experiments performed to observe
the result of protecting girdled places on trees from the effects
of exposure. Healthy young trees, or large branches, of elm,
chestnut, apple, grape, and white pine were drawn through
glass tubes, two inches in diameter and two feet long, upon
either end of which were fastened short pieces of rubber hose.
These tubes were placed over girdled spots, from which the
bark was removed on the thirtieth of May last, and the rub-
ber securely fastened with iron wire to the tree. From all of
these specimens a considerable quantity of sap escaped, appar-
ently in the form of vapor, and was collected in the tube.
There was no layer of wood formed, but the foliage of all ex-
cept the pine was killed before autumn, apparently by the
fermentation of the sap and its re-absorption into the wood.
In the case of an elm root, treated in a similar manner, the
bark was renewed, probably from the fact that the cambium
Avas in a more advanced state than in the other instances. The
root was dug up with care, twenty feet of it drawn through
the tube, and then covered again with earth. (Fig. 23.)

With the view of determining some facts concerning the
functions of the bark in connection with the circulation of
sap and the growth of wood, many experiments have been un-
dertaken at the College during the past two years, and some
interesting results obtained.

In order to learn whether the annual layer of wood upon
trees is developed from the outside of the old wood or from
the inside of the bark, the following plan, suggested by the
interesting experiments of Duhamel more than a century ago,
was tried. Vigorous young trees of elm, glaucous willow,

30

234 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

and chestnut Avere selected, which were from two to three
inches in diameter. On the thirtieth of May, before any de-
position of recently organized tissue was visible, but when the
bark was easily separated from the wood, a horizontal incision
was made with a sharp knife around each stem, and immedi-
ately above this four vertical incisions on the four quarters of
the stem about three inches in length. The four strips of
bark were then carefully detached from the wood at their lower
ends, and a piece of tinned copper, one inch wide, and long-
enough to reach around the wood and overlap, was adjusted
to the trunk. The bark was then replaced and covered tightly
with cloth which had been dipped in melted grafting-wax. The
trees grew through the season as usual, and after the fall of the
leaves the bandages were removed and the results observed.

In all cases the new wood was found to have been deposited
from the bark and outside of the metallic band. Examina-
tion under the microscope showed that a thin layer of paren-
chyma, corresponding to the pith of the first year's wood and
such as probably unites all the layers of wood in exogenous
stems, was formed upon the metal, and outside of this the
fibro-vascular tissue, while the medullary rays were as numer-
ous as in the other portions of the layer of wood, and ex-
tended directly from the bark to the metal under it, whether
examined in a transverse or a longitudinal section, — thus
proving that the material did not flow down in an organized
condition from above the band. The figures appended will
render the entire experiment sufficiently intelligible. (Figs.
24-27.)

This quite satisfactory result demonstrates that the elabo-
rated material formed in the leaves descends altogether outside
of the wood, and that the inner bark is the most highly vital-
ized part of the trunk of a tree and the source of the new
layers of wood and bark which are annually produced.

Much information has also been obtained in regard to the
effects of ringing or girdling the trunks and branches of trees
by the removal of a band of bark only, or of bark and sap-
wood from the entire circumference.

This has long been practised in new countries to kill the
timber which the settler had not time to fell, but must destroy
to obtain grain and other crops.

GIRDLED ORCHARD. 235

The Chinese are said to produce curious dwarf fruit-trees
by ringing a fruit-bearing branch and placing over the spot a
flower-pot with earth in which roots are developed, so that it
may then be detached from the parent tree and cultivated in-
dependently. The Italians propagate the fig-tree in a similar
manner, and this process may be made very useful in securing
the certain growth of a sporting branch of any woody plant,
or of the branches of species with spongy or pithy wood
which will not root from cuttings. It is a well-known fact
that the ringing of a branch of a vine or tree will tend to in-
crease the size of the fruit the following season, because the
branch is thereby gorged with elaborated material for which
there is no outlet, and some persons habitually adopt this
mode of improving their fruit.

In the town of Southborough, Mass., is an apple orchard
of healthy trees, from twelve to sixteen inches in diameter,
which were all girdled by the owner, Mr. Trowbridge Brig-
ham, in the spring of 1870, for the purpose of inducing fruit-
fulness. The desired result is said to have been obtained,
and the trees seem to have suffered no material injury, owing
to the imperfect manner in which the operation was performed.
At the time when the trees were in full blossom, a narrow
belt of bark, usually less than an inch in width, was removed
from the trunks, about two feet from the ground. This did
not peel freely in all cases, and there were many crevices
where it was retained. By means of these connecting links,
the communication between the leaves and the root was im-
perfectly preserved, and during the season new wood and bark
were developed upon these places. In addition to this, in
many cases, the new wood from the upper side of the girdled
spot was sufficiently abundant to reach across and form a con-
nection with the living bark below.

Upon one of these trees was found a branch some four
inches in diameter, which had been perfectly girdled in 1870,
and, although no communication had existed between the
bark of the branch and that of the trunk, it had grown every
year till March, 1874, when it was cut. The buds upon it
were poorly developed, but alive, and the ends of the branches
were dead. It apparently could not have survived more than
a year or two longer, and the reason was obvious upon mak-

236 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

ing a longitudinal section through the girdled part. The limb
was nearly horizontal, and the ring of bark removed was only
a few inches from the trunk. New layers had formed each
year up to the denuded place, but the enlargement was more
above this than below it. The material to form new wood
and bark below came from the other parts of the tree, and
yet, owing apparently to the poor circulation, was deficient
in quantity. The crude sap with some materials from other
portions of the tree ascended to the buds and leaves, and so
an unhealthy growth was continued. An examination of the
figure representing a section of this branch will explain the
cause of its final failure. The wood through which the sap
must ascend was gradually dying, and thus the channel of
communication was constantly becoming more and more ob-
structed. On the whole, this method of treating orchards
cannot be recommended for general use. (Fig. 28.)

In regard to the length of time during which a perfectly
girdled tree may continue to live, we have obtained some
facts worth recording.

In India, it is necessary to girdle the teak trees the year
before cutting them, in order to have them die and lose a
portion of their sap by evaporation, since otherwise the logs
will not float down the rivers to market. Removing a ring
of bark is not sufficient to accomplish this result, and it is
necessary to cut through all the sap-wood so as to prevent
the ascent of water to the leaves.

Mr. W. F. Flint has communicated an interesting account
of a beech tree about eighteen inches in diameter, which
grew in an open pasture in Richmond, New Hampshire. It
was girdled for the express purpose of killing it, in 1866, by
chopping a gash two or three inches wide and nearly as deep
entirely around the trunk near the ground. The next year
it sent up sprouts from below the girdle and formed a new
layer over its entire surface. This was repeated in 1867, but
in 1868 the bark and sprouts of the lower part died, and dead
branches began to appear in the top. This process of decline
continued, and in 1873 but one of the large branches put
forth its leaves ; and, finally, on the ninth year (1874) it
died utterly. This remarkable tenacity of life is doubtless
due to the close, fine texture of the timber, and the fact that

EFFECTS OF GIRDLING. 237

such beeches in open land have an unusual amount of sap-
wood, and are heuce called white beeches.

A red maple, on the College farm, which was girdled in
April, 1873, by cutting a channel in the sap-wood two inches
wide and one inch deep, bled most profusely, but grew as
usual through the season. No wood, however, was formed
below the girdle, and the bark died and separated from the
wood. The roots, nevertheless, remained alive, and the tree
has borne its usual amount of foliage during the summer of
1874, and formed its buds for next year, and produced a new
layer of wood above the girdle. Specimens have been col-
lected for chemical and microscopic analyses of the roots and
of the wood and bark above and below the girdle, in the hope
that some light may be thrown upon the subject of sap circu-
lation and the functions of the bark, whenever this work can
be done.

On the third of June last, branches of the apple, pear,
peach, crab-apple and grape were girdled by removing a
ring of bark one inch long. They grew well and bore an
abundance of fine fruit, as was expected.

On the fourth of June, small trees of red maple, elm,
aspen, willow, linden, chestnut, white pine, black birch, but-
ternut, and a large wild grape vine, were girdled by remov-
ing a ring of bark two inches in length.

On the twelfth of June, trees of ash, bass, beech, black
birch, yellow birch, white birch, alder, black oak, chestnut,
sugar maple, hornbeam and aronwood were girdled in like
manner; and on the twenty-third of June, specimens of white
oak, red oak, black birch, yellow birch, white birch, red
maple, sugar maple, ash, bass, aspen, witch-hazel, white
pine, cornel, chestnut, hickory, beech, ironwood, hornbeam,
apple and choke-cherry. July twenty-first, we girdled speci-
mens of wild grape, cornel, reel maple, chestnut, black birch,
white birch, white pine, bittemut, white oak and black oak.

On the twenty-eighth of August, the bark of the following
species was found to adhere to the wood, viz. : red maple,
yellow birch, wild thorn, hornbeam, beech, witch-hazel, bird-
cherry, white oak, red oak, elder and elm ; while the bark of
the following species was readily separated from the wood,
viz. : hemlock, white pine, alder, shadbush, white birch,

238 BOARD OF- AGRICULTURE.

black birch, chestnut, cornel, ash, iron wood, apple and
aspen.

All the trees thus girdled grew through the season as usual,
but none of them formed wood below the girdle, except the
grape and the red maple. The former, being a branch of a
large vine, with foliage both above and below the girdle,
formed new wood on both sides of it, and finally, the two
callouses were united and communication restored across it.
(Figs. 29-30.)

The red maple, girdled June 23d, formed wood only on the
upper side, but the specimen girdled July 21st, formed a
new layer of wood and bark upon the denuded surface. This
was doubtless owing to the fact that a portion of the cambium
was left on the wood sufficient to conduct the elaborated sap
and form new tissues out of it. This tree, like the others,
grew in the woods, where it was shaded from the direct rays
of the sun. The new bark was of a reddish brown color
and very smooth, and consisted of a thin layer of periderm
or cork, with parenchyma and bast. A drawing of its micro-
scopic structure together with one of the old bark on the same
tree has been prepared. (Figs. 31-34.)

There is a popular notion that the bark of an apple tree,
removed on the longest day of the year, will be renewed, and
it is well known that occasionally such renewal of the bark of
various species does occur. This may happen whenever
there is deposited upon the old wood enough of the new
layer to conduct downward the elaborated sap, and to develop
from the living parenchyma of the forming medullary rays a
protecting layer of periderm.

It is not uncommon for the bark of the half-hardy weeping-
willow to be started by freezing and thawing from the wood.
When this is the case, there sometimes forms a new layer of
wrood upon the detached bark, which is disconnected from the
wood of the parent trunk. There is also sometimes formed a
new layer of wood and periderm on the old wood under the
shelter of the old bark, and roots often descend from the
healthy portion of the trunk several feet beneath the loose
bark to the ground, and as soon as they penetrate it enlarge
rapidly. All these phenomena are readily explained by sup-
posing that the liber, or inner bark, of the tree is torn asunder,

EFFECTS OF FROST. 239

a portion sometimes remaining attached to the wood sufficient
to conduct the elaborated sap and so form a new layer of
wood with a layer of bark. The roots arc developed from the
uninjured portion under the protection of the old bark, and in
their nature are precisely like roots from cuttings. An in-
teresting specimen from the grounds of Mr. Charles S. Smith,
of Amherst, is exhibited in figure 35.

The rupture of the medullary rays and separation of the
bark from the wood by the combined action of frost and sun-
shine is not uncommon in the apple and other cultivated
trees. If a severe frost separates the water from the wood
as ice, and it then thaws and freezes again before it can be re-
absorbed, it will be likely to burst the bark or tissues in
which it is accumulated. This usually results in one or
more cracks through the bark on the southerly side of the
tree, from which there is, in the case of the apple tree, com-
monly a slight flow of crude sap in the following April or
May. The outside of the bark is blackened, and the detached
portions die.

In the spring of 1874, a vertical crack three feet long was
noticed in the south side of a vigorous young Gravenstein
apple tree in Amherst, the trunk of which was about three
inches in diameter. Upon examination, it was found that the
bark had not been separated from the thick layer of wood
formed the previous year, but that this outside layer was
entirely detached from the wood beneath. The bark, being
supplied with sap ascending through this layer, remained
sound, and, the crack having been tilled with wax, the tree
grew equally well with others in its vicinity which had sus-
tained no injury. The new growth on the sides of the crack
being covered only with a thin, soft periderm, will, doubtless,
readily unite, and there will soon remain no trace of the
rupture. The separated layers of wood, however, will never
be reunited, though the inner ones may conduct sap, until
converted into the nearly impervious heartwood which oc-
cupies the central portion of every trunk after it attains to
any considerable size.

At what age, if ever, the inner wood of exogens loses all
power of conveying sap, and whether the sound heart of an
old tree wmich has never been exposed to the influences of the

240 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

atmosphere still retains life, are questions which have not
been definitively answered. It is not easy to say wherein the
vitality of any perfectly formed tissue, whether of the wood
or bark, consists, since their cells have no power of enlarge-
ment or multiplication, though the thickening of the cell-walls
by the deposition of substances within the cells and the strik-
ing changes in color, seem to indicate the presence of a feeble
life. The functions of the wood seem to be mainly such as
may be performed by dead material. The cellulose which has
never been exposed to the air may retain its peculiar affinity
for water, which is evidently much greater before than after
drying. The cells may serve as reservoirs of starch and
other substances which may afterwards be imbibed by the
living, growing or ripening tissues. The pith, which is alive
iu young branches so long as leaves are borne upon their
wood, dies apparently with them. If growth is a characteristic
feature of living tissue, our trees may with some reason be
considered annuals, since all their growth proceeds normally
from their winter buds and completely envelops every portion
of the tissues of the roots, stems and branches previously
formed, thus excluding them from the weather and pre-
venting their decay, while using them for a support and
a magazine of supplies. However this may be, it is cer-
tain that the vitality of trees is concentrated in a remarkable
manner upon the surface and the extremities of their roots
and branches.

Among the observations made during the past season, not
the least interesting were those relating to the natural graft-
ing which is frequently to be seen in the forests, and which is
particularly noticeable among roots. The almost incredible
manner in which the living surface of the inner bark of woody
stems can transform the same elaborated sap into different
species of wood and bark, was alluded to last year, and the
case mentioned of a possible compound tree, containing a
plum root and base, on which grew a stem of apricot, sur-
mounted by a stem of blood peach with red wood, and that
by a stem of white peach, and the whole by a stem and
branches of almond. Thus, each kind of wood and bark
would be perfectly developed from the same material, just as
on the same cow's milk may be fed a child, a calf, a colt, a

A COMPOSITE TREE. 241

black pig, a white pig and a lamb. The specific life of each,
and not its food, determines its form, size and character.

To show still more impressively the peculiar powers of the
wood and bark to conduct the crude and elaborated saps in
either direction, and to act either as roots or branches, as
circumstances require, we will describe an experiment per-
formed by a French gardener, M. Carillet, at Vincennes, in
1866 and 1867. He selected two dwarf pear trees, grafted
on quince roots, which were from four to five feet high. One
of them was carefully dug up in April, 1866, and fastened in
an inverted position above the other. The leading shoots of
the two trees were now flattened on one side with a knife,
and the two surfaces firmly bound together in the usual
manner of splice grafting. The two shoots grew together,
and, in the course of the summer following, a few leaves
appeared on the main stem of the inverted pear tree, and also
on the main branches of the quince roots, which were entirely
in the air some eight or ten feet from the ground. The next
spring, scions from four varieties of pear were set upon the
four main branches of the quince roots, two of which lived
and grew several inches. Meanwhile, the inverted pear tree
bore two pears. Here, then, was a composite tree, con-
sisting, first, of a root of quince, then a pear tree, upon
this an inverted pear tree, which had branches consisting of
inverted quince roots, and these were surmounted by pear-
shoots of two unlike kinds. Upon such a specimen it would
be very difficult to comprehend the working of the imaginary
syphons of Dr. Pettigrew, already described.

In order to illustrate the fact that the return of the elab-
orated sap was not the result of the force of gravity, a pend-
ant branch of weeping- willow was girdled last June. The
enlargement was on the lower side of the girdled place, show-
ing that the flow of the material formed in the leaves was
constantly towards the roots. (Fig. 36.)

To learn whether sap would flow from the bark on the
upper side of a girdled place, a stem of white willow, an inch
in diameter and ten feet high, was selected, and a ring of
bark, one inch long, removed. The girdled place was then
wrapped in oiled paper, so as effectually to exclude the air
and the light. On the fifteenth of October, one month after

31

242 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

girdling, the paper was taken off and the specimen examined.
The wood appeared dead and brown, and was covered with a
mucilaginous fluid which appeared to have come from above.
There was no sign of growth below the girdle, but above it
the stem was decidedly enlarged, and a callous had descended
a quarter of an inch and developed upon itself a bud, as if
about to strike out for air and light. No bleeding from the
bark was observed in any case worthy of mention, the nearest
approach to it being in the flow of turpentine from the bark
and sap-wood of the the white pine.

Among the specimens of natural grafting obtained during
the past year, perhaps the most remarkable was a fine bunch
of mistletoe, growing as a parasite upon a branch of oak.
This was kindly procured for the College museum by Prof.
J. W. Mallet, LL.D., of the University of Virginia. The.
shrub is an evergreen, and its roots penetrate the bark and
sap-wood of the tree on which it feeds, appropriating the
crude sap and forming a wood of a totally different sort from
that of its support, and having an ash peculiar to itself. In
fact, the several species on which it is produced seem to serve
merely as so many different soils on which it can thrive. As
the oak-branch was dead beyond the mistletoe, it would seem
to have been injured by the abstraction of its sap and its
exhalation from the foliage of the parasite. The singular
mode in which the union is formed will be understood by an
examination of figure 37.

A specimen of red maple was brought to the College by
Mr. Austin Eastman, of Amherst, which exhibited a single
trunk with oue heart, formed by the natural union of two
shoots, which were nearly three feet apart, and were united
about six feet from the ground. The main trunk was eight
inches in diameter.

Another specimen, found in Pelham, shows two white pine
trunks, joined like the Siamese twins, at about four feet from
the ground. This, when sawed open vertically, showed how
the union had been effected. A branch of one had lodged
in the angle made by a branch of the other with its parent
trunk. As the tree grew, they were fastened together, and,
under the pressure thus caused, the bark was flattened until
it almost disappeared, and soon the new wood formed over

GROWING STUMPS. 243

the scar and made the grafting complete. The structure will
be understood by examining figure 38.

But the grafting of roots is still more common and curious.
They seem to cohere without the least difficulty, especially
those of the white pine, which is doubtless owing to the soft-
ness of the bark and young wood, and the fact that they grow
so nearly at the same level in the earth. A specimen from
the vicinity of the College, exhibiting a large number of grafts,
is represented in figure 39.

A branch of gray birch, which has united with its own trunk
by an attachment formed in the angle of another branch above
it, is shown in figure 40.

The rootward flow of elaborated sap is well illustrated in a
specimen of aspen in the College museum, around which is
twined a vine of bittersweet. (Figs. 41-42.)

From the. observations above made, it will be seen that there
is no difficulty in accounting for the curious fact which has
long been regarded as a great mystery, that the stumps of fir
trees, which do not sprout, have been known to continue
forming new layers of wood and bark for a great number of
years. Dutrochet mentions the case of a stump of the silver
fir which" thus grew from 1743 till 1836, when it was still
alive, having formed, since the tree was felled, ninety-two thin
layefs of wood. The roots of the living stump were doubt-
less grafted to the roots of some healthy tree or trees in its
vicinity, and their elaborated sap was attracted into the sound
bark and supplied the necessary material for the development
of new tissues under the influence of its vital force. The
outer layer of the roots of the stump was thus renewed an-
nually, and so they retained their power of absorption ; but
since the top of the stump, becoming dry and having no
foliage, could not exhale moisture, the crude sap of its roots
ascended into the neighboring tree or trees to which they
were united. Thus a sort of circulation was maintained
sufficient to explain the phenomena observed.

Another peculiarity often to be seen in the stems and
branches of trees and shrubs, as in the pear, the apple, the
hemlock, and the lilac, is the spiral growth or twisting of the
wood and bark, which is sometimes visible during the life of
such specimens, and always when the bark is removed and the

244 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

timber seasoned. Some have endeavored to account for this
phenomenon by referring it to the effect of the wind, but
it is frequently seen on trees which grow in sheltered situa-
tions. The timber of Pinus longifolia, a valuable tree of
Northern India, is often rendered worthless by this habit of
growth, and while such trees are more numerous in some
regions than in others, they are found irregularly scattered
among those which do not exhibit this abnormal structure.
(Fig. 43.)

The surprising phenomena of pressure and suction exerted
upon mercurial gauges attached to the trunks and roots of
such trees as bleed or flow from wounds in the spring, which
were described in the paper presented to the Board last year,
gave abundant encouragement for further investigation. Ac-
cordingly, numerous experiments have been undertaken and
some thousands of observations recorded, which have been
tabulated, and are appended in as compact a form as possible.
To accomplish so much work as is here represented in a single
season, required the cordial cooperation of a considerable
number of persons. It is proper that the names of those
officers and students of the College who have faithfully and
intelligently labored to accumulate these facts should be an-
nounced in connection with what they have done. If all who
enjoy the privileges of students in natural science would
exhibit the same enthusiasm for the acquisition of new truths,
they would thereby not only improve themselves but increase
the common stock of knowledge with a rapidity altogether
unprecedented.

Prof. Levi Stockbridge has made nearly all the observations
upon the flow of sap in the sugar maple, and has faithfully
kept the record of the variations of pressure in the mercurial
and water gauges on the sugar maple, the red maple and the
butternut, which have been noted three or more times daily
for several months.

Prof. S. T. Maynard has devoted much time to the care of
the squash whose unparalleled performances in harness attest
unmistakably its health and vigor. He has also kindly as-
sisted in the preparation of gauges, and in every way in which
his services were needed. The drawings for the cuts repre-
senting the squash and the apparatus used in the experiments

NAMES OF ASSISTANTS. 245

with it, as well as for those relating to the specimens of elm,
were furnished by him.

For the very convenient form of stopcocks used in the
mercurial gauges, we are indebted to the ingenuity of Prof.
S. H. Peabody.

Much credit is due to Mr. D. P. Penhallow, a post-graduate
student, for his untiring devotion to the study of the squash-
vine, with which he spent many days and nights, observing
its mode of growth and making complete microscopical draw-
ings of all its structure. He also adjusted gauges to several
herbaceous plants, and reported upon the pressure of their
saps. He assisted in finding the per cent, of water in various
species of wood at different seasons of the year, and his
pencil prepared all the drawings, except those already men-
tioned.

Charles Wellington, B.S., assistant in the chemical labor-
atory, has undertaken to determine the composition of various
saps and the effect on them of the advancing season. This
important investigation is not yet completed.

Mr. Walter H. Knapp, with great fidelity, furnished the
material for the table showing the amount of sap which flowed
daily from each species.

Mr. Atherton Clark made the observations on the water
gauges, except that on the sugar maple, on the mercurial
gauges in the case of the white birch root, the apple root and
the three on the grape vine, one of which . was thirty feet
from the ground. He also did much of the work relating1 to
the time when each species begins to flow.

Mr. William P. Brooks began and carried out very thor-
oughly a series of observations to learn precisely what species
flowed, at what time in the season, and how rapidly, visiting
for this purpose about forty species daily for several weeks.
In some unaccountable manner, the memorandum book con-
taining most of his records has been lost, and so his report is
incomplete.

Mr. Henry Hague recorded the variations on the mercurial
gauges upon the four birches, one of them thirty feet from
the ground ; and on the hornbeam, three times daily for many
weeks.

Mr. George R. Dodge attended to a series of experiments

246 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

instituted to determine the circumstances which affect the
flow of sap from the maples, and furnished an excellent
report.

It has been said that all species of flowering plants will
probably bleed from some part, if wounded, at some time of
their growth. This has not been demonstrated, and some
trees seem to have a wood so remarkably spongy and reten-
tive of moisture as to render it unlikely that they should ever
flow. Much effort has been made to arrive at the truth on
this subject concerning our common forest trees by methods
detailed below.

About the middle of last March, a large number of trees
were selected and prepared for observation by boring one
half-inch hole to the depth of two inches into the wood, and
inserting a galvanized iron sap-spout, invented by Mr. C. C.
Post, of Burlington, Vt., and well adapted for use in the
sugar-bush. The species thus tapped, and all others named
in this paper, will be mentioned by their common English
names, which are familiar to most persons ; but, in order that
these may be clearty understood, a list is appended contain-
ing both the English and the Latin names. The following
were tested, as above described, for sap, viz. : hemlock,
black spruce, balsam fir, alder, European alder, striped
maple, red maple, sugar maple, shad-bush, white birch,
black birch, yellow birch, paper birch, hornbeam, chestnut,
hickory, bitternut, cornel, thorn, quince, ash, beech, butter-
nut, black walnut, mulberry, ironwood, white pine, yellow
pine, buttonwood, aspen, English cherry, black cherry,
mountain ash, apple, pear, peach, white oak, red oak, glau-
cous willow, white willow, bass, linden, elm and grape.
These trees were visited every day, about noon, for several
weeks, the holes being renewed as often as necessary, and
whenever they were found flowing the number of drops per
minute was recorded, except in the case of such trees as
flowed somewhat abundantly and for a considerable time.
The whole amount of sap from those of the latter class was
carefully collected and Aveighed daily. A reference to the
table appended will give at a glance the principal results,
such as the dates of the beginning and end of the flow, and
the total amount from each species. It will be seen that the

AMOUNT OF SAP. 247

sugar maple flows at any time when stripped of its foliage,
provided the weather is favorable, the principal condition
being a temperature above freezing, directly after severe
frost. A comparison of the flow from this species with the
pressure on the mercurial gauges, and with the temperature
as indicated in the meteorological observations, kindly furn-
ished by Prof. E. S. Snell, LL.D., of Amherst College, will
convince the inquirer that there is an intimate connection
between these three sets of facts.

The quantity of sap from a sugar maple during the season
is much greater than from any other tree flowing from the
same causes. Thus the entire flow from the butternut was
less than the product of the sugar maple for a single day.
The ironwood and the birches, however, surpass even the
maple, both in the rapidity and amount of their flowing, if we
make allowance for the difference in the size of the trees tested.
A paper birch, fifteen inches in diameter, flowed in less than
two months one thousand four hundred and eighty-six pounds
of sap ; the maximum flow, on the fifth of May, amounting
to sixty-three pounds and four ounces, which is probably
three times the average yield of a sugar maple of the same
size. These latter species will not bleed during the winter,
and seem to do so in the spring from a cause entirely differ-
ent from that which affects the trees which bleed in fall and
winter. The grape, which is often thought to bleed more
freely than any other species, though later in the season, really
flows but little, the total amount from a very large vine being
eleven pounds and nine ounces.

Among the species subjected to trial, only those mentioned
as bleeding exhibited this phenomenon. The following flowed
for a short time, or very irregularly, or very slowly. The
shad-bush was seen to flow, on the eighth of April, one drop
in fifty seconds. The hickory bled one drop per minute of
very sweet sap, on the fifteenth of April, and the cornel, ten
drops on the same day. The European alder flowed three
drops per minute, April ninth, and the common alder, four
drops, on the twent}'-first of March, and on the tenth of April,
nine drops from one spout and six drops from another, in-
serted six inches below the former. The black walnut yielded
a small amount of sap during several weeks, and, March

248 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

thirtieth, bled six drops per minute. The buttonwood flowed
forty drops per minute, March twenty-fifth, and one hundred
on a very cold day, the eighth of April. The total amount,
however, was very small. The apple bled twenty-eight drops
per minute, May thirteenth, and the beech, on the tenth of
May, flowed ten drops per minute, both yielding most sap in
decidedly warm weather, the mean temperature for the last
date being above 70° F. The latex of the mulberry exuded
from the bark, on the ninth of April, as a transparent fluid
which soon became milky, and the white and yellow pines
flowed a small quantity of turpentine, apparently from both
bark and wood.

A large red maple, which was thoroughly girdled in 1873,
and whose bark had died and peeled off below the girdled place,
was tapped above and also below it. The result was that it
bled freely from both holes on many occasions. The flow, on
the eighth of April, was fifty drops per minute from the upper
one, and one drop from the lower one, while on the eleventh
of the same month, it was three drops from the upper and
fourteen drops from the lower one.

After the usual run of sap for the season has ceased, some
species will bleed from the stump, if cut down, just like many
herbaceous plants. Thus, Mr. Wm. F. Flint reports that
large trees of the black, yellow, and paper birch, when felled
on the thirtieth of June -last, did not bleed immediately, as in
April, but after an hour or two began to exude sap freely.

On August twenty-eighth, twenty-four species of young
trees were cut down, about one foot from the ground, to see
whether they would bleed. None did so immediately, but
fifteen hours afterward the black birch ran a few drops, and
the following were moist on the top of the stump, viz. : alder,
yellow birch, red maple, cornel, ironwood, apple, elder, elm,
and white pine. August thirty-first, the black birch bled a
little, and the yellow birch, thorn, apple, glaucous willow, elm,
and white pine were moist. The rest, including hemlock,
shad-bush, white birch, chestnut, hornbeam, beech, ash, witch-
hazel, bird cherry, white oak, red oak, and aspen, were per-
fectly dry, though all were sheltered from the sun.

These results seem to include most of the important attain-
able facts in regard to the flow of sap as exhibited by our com-

WATER GAUGES. 249

mon exogenous trees, and, while none of the observations can
be exactly repeated from the nature of the phenomena, yet
they may safely be accepted as the substantial truth concern-
ing the whole subject.

The interesting tacts observed last year, in connection with
the attachment of mercurial gauges to the roots and trunks of
trees which were known to bleed from wounds, and the sug-
gestions derived from them, were a powerful stimulus to fur-
ther investigations in this direction. Accordingly, a large
number of gauges were prepared in early spring, and, as soon
as the weather was suitable, attached to such trees and roots
as gave promise of the most valuable results.

There still remained the unaccountable fact that the larger
number of trees and shrubs did not show any tendency to
bleed in spring, and therefore could not be made to answer
any inquiries put to them in regard to the circulation of sap.
It was thought best to adopt a cheaper and simpler form of
gauge for application to such species as gave small promise of
useful results. For this purpose, the following economical
apparatus was devised and applied to the roots of elm, ash,
white oak, chestnut, apple, sugar maple, and hickory. A
straight glass tube, three feet in length, with a bore about one
quarter of an inch in diameter, was joined by a conical rubber
connector with each of the detached roots, and the roots again
covered with the earth in which they grew. The tubes were
now fastened in a vertical position to stakes set near the ends
of the detached roots, which were one inch in diameter. They
were then filled with water to a certain point, which was care-
fully marked, and the changes occurring noted every day.
Sometimes the water in a tube would sink away, showing an
absorption of the fluid by the roots ; and again it would rise
and flow over the top of the tube, demonstrating the fact that
the absorbing power of the root was, sometimes at least, in
excess of the affinity of the cellulose of the wood for water.
It was well established that the wood of the roots of trees is in
a condition in early spring to absorb with avidity the water
from the tubes, while later in the season many of them exude
water freely, so as to cause the tubes to overflow. The
amount of absorption was recorded in inches, the minus sign
being prefixed to the numbers, while the exudation was meas-
32

250 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

ured in a similar way, with the omission of the sign. Thirty-
six inches of water in one of these tubes weighed one ounce,
and from these data it was easy to learn the actual amount of
water which was taken up or thrown off daily by each species.
The table of observations for six common trees, which is ap-
pended, will convey a correct impression of the peculiarities
of this phenomenon.

One of the most remarkable discoveries, in this connection,
is the entirely unexpected fact that the roots of the sugar
maple do not exude any sap from their wood when protected
from frost, and show less independent power of absorbing
water from the soil than almost any other species. Hence,
there was no flow from the root into the tube at any time,
but a constant moderate absorption of water from it.

The flow from the root into the tube is similar to that
observed in the tube of an ordinary osmometer ; but this does
not prove that osmose has any influence in this matter, and
the doubt about it is not diminished when we see the water
moving, sometimes in one direction and sometimes in another.
In the sugar maple, the flow was always out of the tube into
the wood of the root ; in the white oak, the absorption from
the tube was, in some cases, as much as one ounce in thirty
minutes, but rarely the current was reversed and absorption
occurred from the ground ; while, in the elm, the absorption
from the tube was at its maximum, April fifteenth, and then
gradually diminished until April twenty-first, from which date
the flow into the tube continued till June thirtieth, when the
observations were suspended.

A section of a white oak root, eight inches long and one
inch in diameter, which was freshly dug from the damp earth,
April eleventh, and weighed, was then placed with one end
in water three-eighths of an inch in depth, and in ten hours
absorbed 3.19 per cent, of its weight. This shows that the
tissues were far from saturated, and were in an excellent con-
dition to facilitate ordinary root absorption. A mercurial
gauge attached to a root of white oak showed on the twelfth
of April a suction sufficient to sustain a column of water 10.20
feet in height, which was caused by the absorption of the
water in the connecting tube between the gauge and the root.

The mercurial gauge, which was used for determining the

MERCURIAL GAUGES. 251

variations of the pressure exerted by the sap of such species
as are noted for the abundance of their flow, consisted of a
syphon-tube of thick glass, the two legs' of which were eight
feet long, and about four inches apart. This was inverted
and attached to a support of inch board, on the centre of
which was fastened a scale divided to tenths of an inch. To
one leg of the tube at the top was adjusted a brass stopcock,
by means of small rubber hose, and to the stopcock was con-
nected by a brass coupling a piece of thick lead pipe of small
bore and convenient length, which was joined by another
stopcock to the trunk, root, or branch which was to be
tested. The stopcocks were so made, with a tube on the top,
that communication could be opened between the free air and
either the lead or the glass tubing at pleasure, and, when
closed from the air, the passage was open between the
mercury in the syphon-tube, the water in the lead pipe and
the sap in the tree. The object of this three-way cock was
to facilitate filling the tubes with water and mercury, and
allowing the escape of any gas which might find its way into
the apparatus from the tree. A sufficient quantity of mercury
was poured into the inverted syphon to fill the two legs to the
height of about forty inches, and the remainder of the leg
connected with the tree, as well as the lead pipe, was care-
fully filled with water, all air being excluded. The other leg
of the syphon-tube was left open to the atmosphere. When
the sap exerted a pressure, it was indicated by a depression of
the mercury in the closed leg of the glass tube and a rise in
the open end, the difference between the two columns showing
the pressure in inches of mercury. Suction into the tree was
marked by the rise of the mercury in the closed leg and its
depression in the open one, and in making the record the
minus sign was prefixed to the figures expressing the number
of inches of mercury.

One of the difficulties encountered in these experiments
arose from the liability to leakage, either around the stopcock
inserted into the tree, or from accidental wounds to the bark
or small branches. In cases where the pressure was very
great, it was sometimes necessary to solder a heavy sheet of
lead to the stopcock and nail it to the tree with a packing of
white lead in oil. Much trouble was also experienced from

252 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

the bursting of the lead pipes and the breaking of the glass
tubes during severe cold weather by the formation of ice
within the gauges. To avoid this as much as possible, the
gauges were enclosed in wooden cases, and the more exposed
portions wrapped in woollen blankets.

Mercurial gauges were attached to the following species,
viz. : sugar maple, red maple, black, yellow, white and paper
birches, ironwood, apple and grape, and all the observations
may be found in the appended tables. The general results
correspond with those of last year, but are much more com-
plete, especially in regard to the two species which exhibit
the most surprising phenomena and in which the public feel
the deepest interest, namely, the sugar maple and the grape
vine.

As soon as the discovery was made, by means of the water
gauge, that the apple would flow from the root, a mercurial
gauge was attached to a root an inch in diameter. At first,
on the fifteenth of May, there was a slight suction amounting
to -1.59 feet of water ; but the pressure soon began, and rose
to its maximum, May thirty-first, when it equalled 15.07 feet
of water. Thus, the extreme variation was 16.66 feet.

The butternut had a range of only 13.03 feet, the minimum,
-0.79 foot, occurring on April tenth, and the maximum, 12.24
feet, on April fourteenth.

The red maple attained its minimum, —2.83 feet, April six-
teenth, and its maximum, 18.59 feet, April eighth, the total
variation being 21.42 feet of water.

The ironwood exerted its greatest suction on the nineteenth
of May, which equalled -24.60 feet, while the greatest pressure
was 40.35 feet, and was observed, May thirteenth. The total
variation was thus 64.95 feet of water.

The white birch began early in the season, April ninth;
reached its minimum, -19.26 feet, on the eleventh of May, and
its maximum, 39.66 feet, April twenty-third. The extreme
variation was, therefore, 58.92 feet of water.

A gauge was attached to a root of white birch on the eighth
of April ; the pressure began, April twelfth, and steadily ad-
vanced to its highest point, 38.08 feet, May twelfth, and
declined to zero, May twenty-third, and to its minimum,
-22.98 feet, August twenty-sixth, the extreme variation

PRESSURE OF BIRCH SAP. 253

amounting to 61. OG feet of water. The root was dug up iu
October and found apparently alive and healthy.

The black birch root last year exerted the astonishing pres-
sure of 84.77 feet of water, but was not observed through the
season. This year, on the eighth of April, a guage was
adjusted to a root of the same tree, and, although the pressure
was not quite as great as last season, the extreme variation
was 102.68 feet. The first pressure was, April twenty-third,
and the highest, May tenth, and equalled 77.06 feet, while the
greatest suction was on September fourteenth, and amounted
to -25.62 feet of water.

The pressure is evidently caused in these roots, which are
entirely detached from the tree and lie in the earth just as
they grew, by the activity of their power of absorption, which
seems to be greatest just as the buds are about bursting. The
suction is remarkably powerful, and must apparently result
from some chemical change occurring in the root, after the root-
fibres have lost their absorbing power. A critical examination
by the chemist and the microscopist would probably give an
explanation for this phenomenon.

The paper birch tree reached its maximum, May sixth, when
the pressure was equal to sustaining a column of water 61.20
feet in height. The suction on June fourteenth was — 7.Q3
feet, and the extreme variation for the season was 69.13 feet.

On the eighth of April, a gauge was attached to a yellow
birch tree near the ground, and, on the twenty-fourth, at
noon, the pressure was 73.67 feet of water. A hole was then
bored into the tree at a height of thirty feet above the lower
one, for the purpose of putting up another gauge. The mer-
cury in the lower gauge fell at the rate of four inches per
minute, till it stood at a point representing 35.13 feet of water.
The sap, at the same time, flowed freely from the upper orifice.
The usual difference between the gauges thus placed thirty
feet apart Avas from twenty-four to thirty-five feet of water,
showing evidently that the power furnishing the pressure was
from below, that is, from the root. The maximum of the
lower gauge was 74.22 feet, April twenty-second, and the
minimum was -22.44 feet, May sixteenth, and, hence, the total
variation was 96.66 feet. The upper gauge attained a pressure
of 41.25 feet, on the ninth of May, and sank to -11.11 feet on

254 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

the thirteenth of May, the extreme variation being 52.36 feet
of water. After the development of the buds, the upper gauge
stood uniformly at from -1 to -4 feet of water, and the lower
one was mostly minus.

The bleeding of a broken grape vine, in 1720, induced the
Rev. Stephen Hales, an ingenious observer of nature, to at-
tach mercurial manometers to the stumps of vine branches
and stems, by means of which he obtained a maximum press-
ure of forty-three feet of water. These experiments were
made on vines of the species Vilis vim/era, in the compara-
tively cool and moist climate of England. It is, therefore,
not surprising, that the more vigorous Vitis cestivalis, in the
more fervid and sunny climate of Massachusetts, should exert
a greatly superior force. In order to determine as many facts
as possible concerning the flow and pressure of the sap of the
wild summer grape, two of the largest vines on the College
estate were selected and prepared for observation. The
smaller one was about three inches in diameter at the ground,
and spread over a young elm, some forty feet in height, and
standing in moist, open land. One of the main roots of
the vine was uncovered and followed from the stem toward
its extremities, a distance of four feet, where it was cut oif.
To the large end of this detached root, the remainder of
which was left undisturbed in the soil as it grew, was
firmly fastened a piece of stout rubber hose, which was con-
nected by means of a stopcock to the lead pipe of a mercu-
rial gauge. This was on May-day. The tissues of the root,
which had not yet awakened from its winter sleep, at once
began to absorb the water from the gauge, and the next day
there appeared a suction equal to -4.53 feet of water. This
continued, though gradually diminishing, till it reached zero,
on the tenth of May. From this time the pressure still in-
creased until, on the twenty-ninth of the month, it became
sufficient to sustain a column of water 88.74 feet in height,
which is more than twice as great as the maximum observed
by Hales, and the greatest pressure ever produced by the sap
of a plant so far as we know. It is an interesting fact that
this maximum occurred on the warmest day in May, the mean
temperature having been 71.7° F. It is also noteworthy that,
on the very day when the gauge first showed pressure, the

PRESSURE OF GRAPE SAP. 255

vine which was tapped began to flow, though it was half a
mile distant. The pressure on the gauge steadily diminished
through the season, and, on the fourteenth of September,
amounted to 19.35 feet. The extreme variation was 93.27
feet of water, and, therefore, 9.41 feet less than in the case
of the black birch root, which exhibited a much greater suc-
tion, though less pressure, than the grape root.

The other vine selected for trial was nearly four inches in
diameter and more than fifty feet high. To a large branch
of this, near the ground, was attached a gauge by means of
a rubber hose, the branch being cut off for that purpose. A
second gauge was secured to another branch at the height of
thirty feet above the first, and observations made upon them,
once, twice, or three times, daily, from May seventh till June
thirtieth. After this, occasional visits were made to the vine,
though the variations were very slight. The pressure on the
lower gauge began on the seventh of May, when it was 11.11
feet of water, and reached its maximum on the twenty-sixth
of the month, equalling a column of water 83.87 feet in height.
The pressure declined quite rapidly as soon as the buds be-
gan to develop, and fell to zero, June thirteenth. The greatest
suction was exhibited on the twenty-ninth of June, and was
equal to sustaining a column of water 14.39 feet high. Dur-
ing the month of July, when growth was most rapid, the suc-
tion was uniformly about -7.37 feet of water, and, during
August, about -4 feet. The extreme variation on this gauoe
amounted to 98.26 feet, though the pressure was somewrhat
less than was shown by that on the detached root of the vine
already mentioned.

The upper gauge was not reached by the sap rising from
the root until some days after pressure was manifest at the
lower one. On the twelfth of May, the lower one stood at
34.11 feet of water, and the upper at 3.40 feet. The max-
imum pressure was attained, May sixteenth, and was 39.6(5 feet,
while the greatest suction occurred, June twentieth, and was
-10.77 feet. The extreme variation of the upper gauge was
50.43 feet. The difference between the two gauges was usu-
ally from 20 to 30 feet of -water ; but when the pressure on the
lower one was greatest, the difference was 60.41 feet, in con-
sequence of the fact that the force was entirely from the root,

256 BOARD OF- AGRICULTURE.

and tbe wood of the vine was a hindrance to the sudden
upward thrust of the sap. After the foliage was developed,
the' suction was limited to from -G to -12 feet of water, on
account, doubtless, of the porous character of the foliage and
young branches, and there was no great difference between
the gauges.

The flow of sap from the sugar maple, so familiar to all,
and yet so variable and peculiar, was the first object of inves-
tigation in the beginning of these experiments, in 1873, but
its mysterious fluctuations were not fully known nor under-
stood until the close of the year 1874. The extraordinary
facts, that the flow occurred in mid-winter and early spring,
when the ground was covered with snow and there were no
si°"ns of life ; that the flow began only during mild days
immediately following a severe frost, and ceased usually after
a few hours ; that when a cavity was cut into a sugar maple
tree, the sap flowed down from above, while in a birch it
flowed most freely from below ; and especially the fact, that
when a gauge was attached to a tree, it exhibited the most
surprising variations from great pressure, during the day, to
powerful suction at night, — these, and other unaccountable
things, seemed to demand special effort to discover all the
phenomena attending the flow of maple sap ; and then, if
possible, to invent some rational explanation of them.

Accordingly, a large number of experiments were devised
and carried out, with a very great amount of labor and no little
expense. Among them were the collection and weighing of
all the sap which would flow from a healthy tree, from Novem-
ber to the following May, with a careful observation of the
times when the flow began and ceased, in each case of good
sap-weather ; the collection, weighing and analysis of sap dur-
ing different periods of the entire season, both from the usual
level and from the top of a tree thirty feet from the ground :
the collection and examination of the gas which escapes with
the first flow of sap from the orifice first made in a tree in the
spring ; the effect of increasing the number of holes upon the
total flow of sap and the entire product of sugar ; the result
of tapping trees at various elevations from the earth, on
different sides, and to different depths ; and finally, a record
for comparison and study of the fluctuations in the mercury

A SHOWER OF SAP. 257

of several gauges, attached to various parts of the same tree,
as observed three or more times daily.

Upon reference to the table showing the flow of sap from
the sugar maple, it will be noticed that the tree (No. 1)
tapped near the ground flowed quite freely in December and
January as well as in March and April-, the total amount of
sap being five hundred and sixty-six pounds and twelve
ounces. Notwithstanding the large quantity previously ex-
uded, the flow from this tree during the month of April
amounted to one hundred and four pounds and eight ounces,
while a tree (No. 2) nearly as large, from which no sap had
been taken, but which was tapped at the height of thirty feet
from the ground, bled only fifty-five pounds and eleven ounces.
It is evident, therefore, that the flow is greatest at the lowest
point, other things being equal ; but it often happens that the
sap will drop from a broken twig in the top of a tree when it
will not run at all from the trunk.

Mr. Samuel F. Perley, of Naples, Maine, in an interesting
communication containing much valuable information derived
from his large experience in the sugar-bush, relates the fol-
lowing incident : " Happening, on a bright, sunny morning, to
visit a sugar tree standing in open land, and having a large,
spreading top, I was surprised, on walking beneath. the limbs,
to find quite a smart shower falling upon me. On looking
up, I could see no clouds, yet the drops were falling thick
and fast in all the area covered by the branches of the tree.
An examination showed the drops to be drops of sap flowing
from innumerable broken twigs. I then remembered that a
day or two before there had been a storm of sleet and rain,
which had encased the trees with a heavy coating of ice, and
following that, a violent wind which had twisted and broken
many of the smaller branches. From these was now flowing
a brilliant shower of sap, sparkling in the bright sunshine. I
could not perceive that this wholesale tapping diminished at
all the flow from the trunk, or in any manner injured the
tree."

Icicles of frozen sap are not unfrequently seen depending
from the branches of maple and butternut trees during severe
cold weather, when the temperature rises only slightly
above 32° F. at mid-day. On Thanksgiving Day, 1874, the

33

258 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

thermometer, in the shade, indicated 32° F. at two p. m.
A sugar maple was tapped at the ground, and fifty feet above
it, and while there was no flow from the lower orifice, the
upper one bled four drops per minute.

On the twentieth of November last, the weather was cold,
and at eleven, a. m. there was a rapid fall of soft snow, fol-
lowed by a rising temperature. At half-past twelve, p. m.,
the mercurial gauge, in the top of a sugar maple, indicated a
pressure of about nine feet of water, while a gauge at the
ground showed neither pressure nor suction.

In the case of a tree tapped in 1873, on the north and south
sides, in order to compare the flow from each, it was found
that, for some reason, the north spout yielded nearly twice as
much sap as the south one, and flowed two weeks longer. It
appears probable that this was an exceptional instance, and
possibly to be accounted for by the fact, that the roots of the
south side ran under a highway, while those of the north side
luxuriated in a rich meadow.

In 1874, another tree, about sixty feet in height and four
feet and ten inches in girth, was subjected to the same trial.
The total flow from the south side was eighty-six pounds and
four ounces, while that. from the north side was sixty-eight
pounds and five ounces. Near the close of the season only,
did the flow from the latter exceed that from the former.
There can be no doubt that it is much wiser to tap all sugar
trees on the south side, because the sap will flow earlier and
more abundantly than from the shaded side, while the late
sap is of little value to the sugar-maker.

Another sugar maple, seventy feet high and four feet in
circumference, was tapped on the south side in five places,
the holes being two feet apart on a vertical line, so that spout
number one was near the ground, number two, directly above
number one, number three, two feet above number two, and
so on. During the month of April, the sap from each spout
was weighed daily, and the results were as follows, viz. :
The total flow was one hundred and twenty pounds and one
ounce. From number one, near the ground, was collected
seventy-eight pounds and ten ounces ; from number two,
twelve pounds and two ounces ; from number three, five
pounds and ten ounces ; from number four, eight pounds and

COMPOSITION OF SAP. 259

seven ounces ; and from number five, fifteen pounds and four
ounces. These facts are, in the main, what would be
expected from the other observations made concerning the
flow of maple sap.

The effect of increasing the number of spouts inserted into
a tree was tried on two red maples, which flow much less than
the sugar maple and for a shorter time. Ten spouts in one
tree, sixty feet high and four feet eight inches in girth, were
found to flow, during the first half of April, seventy-eight
pounds and eight ounces, while one spout in a similar tree
flowed less than half as much, or thirty-five pounds and two
ounces. There can be no doubt that the quantity of sap
obtained from a tree by the use of many spouts is greater
than that from a limited number, but it is not likely to contain
so large a per cent, of sugar. Still, if it be true, as seems
probable, that the withdrawal of sap exerts no deleterious
influence upon the health and vigor of a tree, and the sap is
richest early in the season, it would seem best to insert more
spouts, and so extract the sugar in its purest condition as
rapidly as p'ossible. This, of course, would necessitate a
greater expenditure for buckets, which might possibly coun-
terbalance the advantages of the new method. Experiments
might be easily instituted to determine the facts in regard to
this matter by any intelligent sugar-maker.

In regard to the origin of cane sugar in the sap of the
maples, the butternut and the black walnut, we must, for the
present, admit that we have not yet discovered it ; though
the singular fact that the species which yield this sugar belong
to that class of trees which only flow freely after severe frost
seems to indicate that freezing and thawing may have some
influence upon its production.

It will be seen, from an examination of the table relating
to the composition of saps, that the sap of the wild grape is
almost pure water, and that it contained, on the fifteenth of
May last, no trace of either cane sugar, glucose or starch.
There is, however, in the wood of the roots and stems of the
genus VitisvL great quantity of a colorless, translucent, almost
tasteless mucilage, which is abundantly exuded from the pores
of a cross section made at any time when the roots are dor-
mant. Very little even of this seems to escape from a bleed-

260 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

ing vine, which may account for the fact that the flow of crude
sap from the grape does not perceptibly affect its subsequent
growth or productiveness.

The sap of the sugar maple contains from two to three per
cent, of cane sugar, while that of the red maple yields only
about half as much. The sap of the latter is said by Mr. H.
M. Sessions, of Wilbraham, also to contain some ingredient
which attacks iron, forming a very dark-colored syrup when
evaporated in pans of that metal. It is, therefore, better to
exclude it from the sap gathered for the manufacture of
sugar.

In order to obtain as much information as possible in regard
to the sap of the sugar maple, an analysis was made of the
gas contained in the tree when first tapped. This was pro-
cured by inserting a stopcock into the sap-wood of a tree
twenty feet from the ground. To the stopcock was attached a
glass tube by means of a rubber connector and the tube passed
through a cork into a large bottle, reaching to the bottom.
As soon as the bottle was filled with sap, it was tightly closed
and taken to the laboratory, where the gas was separated by
boiling. The analysis shows that the gas contains much less
nitrogen and more oxygen than atmospheric air, while the
proportion of carbonic acid gas is about one hundred and
thirty-four times greater in the former than in the latter.

As we do not know how or when the cane sugar is formed
in the maple, we cannot account for the variations in the
sweetness of its sap, which are, however, very great. As
the flow depends upon the freezing and thawing of the wood,
and possibly upon the continuance of absorption by the roots
to supply the drain upon the tapped tree, it is evident that a
large body of snow upon the ground will favor it, since the
earth will then be warmer and the night temperature of the
air much colder than under other circumstances. It does not
appear that there is any greater proportion of sap in the
maple than in many other trees, but only that for some
unknown reason it is separated in greater quantity by freezing,
or else not reabsorbed after such separation so quickly as in
other species.

For the purpose of learning whether root absorption is
necessary to keep up the flow of sap through the season, a

CAUSES OF FLOW. 261

large tree, sixty feet in height and four feet and a half in
girth, was cut early in December, 1874, and firmly lashed in an
upright position to neighboring trees. A fire was then kin-
dled around the lower end of the trunk, in order to dry and
close as far as possible the pores of the wood. Next spring
it is proposed to apply mercurial gauges to determine whether
the sap moves, as in trees in a natural condition, and after-
ward to collect and analyze the sap.

While it is certain that the flow of the grape and the birch
results from the great activity of the absorbing rootlets when
they first awake in spring from their winter's repose, it seems
equally evident that root absorption has no direct connection
with the flow of maple sap. This discovery was made by
means of five mercurial gauges, which were attached with
great care to a fine, vigorous tree, about sixty feet in height,
on the twentieth of last March. The gauges were so con-
nected with all parts of the tree that every movement of the
sap would be indicated. Number one was joined to a stop-
cock inserted into the sap-wood about two feet from the ground,
the hole being about one inch in diameter and two inches deep.
Number two was connected by a stout rubber hose to a root
one inch in diameter, which was laid bare by the use of a
force-pump, so as to avoid breaking any of its fibres. This
root was cut open at the distance of about two feet from the
tree, and gauge number two united to the stump, which was
attached to the trunk. Number three was joined in the same
way to the large end of the detached root, which remained in
the soil just as it grew. Number four was fastened to a piece
of gas-pipe one inch in diameter, which was screwed into the
tree to the depth of ten inches, a thread having been cut for
this purpose on the outside of it. No sap could enter this
gauge except at the very centre of the heart-wood of the trunk.
Number five was attached to the sap-wood among the branches,
at an elevation of twenty feet above gauge number one. The
gauges thus connected were then inclosed in tight pine cases,
and the metallic pipes and stopcocks wrapped in woolen
blankets to protect them from the cold. The observations
were taken regularly at six A. M., at noon, and at six r. m.,
for about ten weeks, until the changes became unimportant.
The table appended gives all the variations of sap pressure

262

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

in different parts of the tree, as recorded at the times speci-
fied. A reference to figure 44 will convey a correct idea of
the manner in which the mercury fluctuates during every hour
of the day and night.

The following are some of the most interesting results
obtained from the several gauges : —

GAUGE.

Minimum.

Date of
Minimum.

Maximum.

Date of
Maximum.

Extreme Variation.

Gauge 1,

—18.13

Apr. 11,

39.67

Mar. 28,

57.80 feet of water.

« 9

—7.71

" 4,

36.27

" 28,

43.98 "

" 3,

—7.71

Mar. 21,

3.40

Apr. 3,

11.11 "

" 4,

—6.01

Apr. 22,

2233

Mar. 28,

2834 "

" 5, .

—26.07

Mar. 31,

52.13

Apr. 2,

78.20 "

The wood of the detached root absorbed the water from the
gauge, so as to exert a suction, like the roots of most other
species of trees in early spring, but the pressure exhibited at
any time was scarcely worthy of mention. So strange did
this appear, that, on the fourth of April, the gauge was re-
moved to a healthy root, detached from another tree, and, to
avoid any possibility of error, it was afterward connected with
a third root, but the results were always similar. It is cer-
tain, therefore, from these observations, as well as those con-
nected with the water-gauge, described on a preceding page,
that the rise and flow of maple sap is not directly caused by
the activity of absorbent rootlets.

Secondly ; it is seen that the movements of the sap in the
heart of a tree are much less rapid and vigorous than those
occurring in the sap-wood at the same level. This is doubt-
less owing to the fact that the old wood is more dense, and
therefore less permeable to fluids than the outer layers of
alburnum ; and also to the circumstance that the variations
of temperature, at the depth of ten inches from the bark, are
necessarily slow and limited.

Finally ; it remains to consider the extraordinary fact, that
the greatest suction, as wrell as the highest pressure, was
exhibited by the gauge in the top of the tree. On the eigh-
teenth of April, the lower gauge in the sap-wood indicated a

CAUSE OF SUCTION. 263

pressure equal to 10.77 feet of water, while, at the same time,
the upper gauge showed a pressure of 24.93 feet. On the
thirty-first of March, the gauges were all frozen, number one
standing at 28.90 feet of water, while number five indicated
a suction equal to -26.07, a difference of 54.97 feet. In the
case of number one, attached to the trunk near the ground, it
seemed that the gauge froze before the body of the tree was
much chilled, while, by the sudden freezing of the branches,
the sap was abstracted from the upper gauge before the cold
had penetrated the coverings sufficiently to freeze it.

On the nineteeth of April, the upper gauge showed little or
no pressure, while the lower one still indicated a pressure of
17 feet. This was apparently due to the absorption of the
sap from the branches by the expanding buds.

In view of all the phenomena thus far observed, it appears
that the flow of sap from the maple and other species, which
bleed only after being frozen, is in no sense a vital process,
but purely physical. The sap is separated from the cellulose
of the wood by the cold, and, under ordinary conditions,
gradually reabsorbed. If, however, the tree be tapped, so
that the liberated sap can escape, then it will do so, flowing,
as is readily seen to be the case with the maple, most copiously
from above. The bleeding is, therefore, a sort of leakage
from the vessels of the wood, but this is doubtless increased
by the elastic force of the gases in the tree, which are com-
pressed by the liberated sap, and this expansive power must
be intensified by the increase of temperature which always
accompanies a flow.

This theory explains the fluctuations of the gauges, and
accounts for the singular fact that the upper one shows the
most pressure and the greatest variations, inasmuch as the
branches and twigs would, of course, be most quickly and
powerfully affected by the heat of the sun and the tempera-
ture of the atmosphere. The pressure of the expanded gases
in a tree in a normal condition would facilitate the re-absorp-
tion by the wood of the liberated sap. Their contraction by
cold would also cause the cessation of the flow from a tree
which was running, and produce the remarkable phenomenon
of suction exhibited by the gauges at night or during frosty
weather.

264 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

An important and elegant demonstration of this theory was
obtained by cutting large branches, fifteen to twenty feet in
length, when the thermometer was below zero, from trees of
the sugar maple, white birch, elm, hickory, bnttonwood,
chestnut and willow, and suspending them in the wrarm air of
the Durfee Plant-House. The maple soon began to bleed at
the rate of twenty-four drops per minute, while the button-
wood bled eleven drops, and the hickory exuded a little very
sweet sap, precisely as in spring. The birch, elm, chestnut
and willow did not flow at all, and were not even moist on
the freshly-cut surface.

A mercurial gauge, attached to the end of a frozen branch
of sugar maple, indicated pressure and suction when the tem-
perature was raised and lowered, precisely as it would have
done upon a maple tree during the ordinary alternations of
day and night in the spring of the year when the sap is
flowing.

In the warm regions of Asia, Africa and America, are found
about one thousand species of palm trees, from many of
which a sweet sap is obtained in large quantities. This is
simply allowed to ferment, and drank as palm-wine or toddy,
or distilled for the production of a sort of brandy, or it is
evaporated for the extraction of its sugar in the form of syrup,
or of a more or less crystalline solid called jaggery. In the
province of Bengal, in India, more than one hundred million
pounds of palm-sugar are manufactured annually, while the
total product of palm-wine in the world greatly exceeds that
of wine from the grape.

There are three principal methods adopted in different
countries for obtaining the sweet sap of palms. In Chili,
trees fifty feet high are felled in such a way that the top will
lie higher than the butt of the trunk, and the single terminal
bud with the crown of leaves is cut off. The sap flows abun-
dantly from the higher end of this log, and if a fresh slice of
wood be removed every day the bleeding continues for
several months. The yield is greatest during the warmest
days, and amounts in all to an average of ninety gallons, or
about seven hundred and twenty-five pounds, from each tree.
This sap is mostly evaporated and utilized as a very agreeable
syrup called palm-honey.

PALM-WINE. 265

In India, it is customary to make incision into the wood of
trees near the top, from which, during the cool months, the sap
flows freely. From the common wild date-palm the annual
yield of sap is about two hundred pounds, containing some
eight pounds of sugar, or four times the average product of
the sugar maple. Much the larger proportion of palm sap is
obtained, however, from the large branching flower-stalks of
the inflorescence. These are produced in the axils of the
immense leaves or fronds, and before they burst the spathe in
which they are enveloped, they are carefully bound together
with pieces of palm-leaf. These buds are then beaten every
morning with sticks and a thin slice removed from the tip of
the axis of inflorescence. From the freshly exposed surface
the sweet sap runs very abundantly for several months.
Indeed, some species continually send out new flower-stalks,
which are constantly bled until, after two or three years, the
tree dies from exhaustion.

But the most remarkable flow of sap is that of the Agave
Americana, or century plant. This is the largest herbaceous
plant known, the leaves of one in the Durfee Plant-House
being eight feet long and of immense weight. In Mexico, the
sap of this species furnishes the favorite beverage of the
people. This is called pulque, and has a most detestable odor
of carrion and a slightly acid taste. The Mexicans are very
fond of it, and natives of other countries soon learn to love it
and then prefer it to claret. The sap is procured by cut-
ting out the bud of the inflorescence which appears in the
centre of the massive crown of leaves, and, if undisturbed,
develops into a flower-stalk from thirty to forty feet high and
covered with thousands of blossoms. The cavity made by
removing the bud is speedily filled with a sweet sap, and the
total amount from one plant is stated by Von Humboldt to be
from twelve to sixteen hundred pounds. The plant then
dies from exhaustion.

It is impossible to give any satisfactory explanation for
these extraordinary phenomena. It is easy to state that
these plants produce large quantities of starch and sugar pre-
paratory to flowering, but why should they continue to flow
so long after the trees are cut down or the flower buds
removed ?

34

266

BOAED OF AGRICULTURE.

If it be true that the sap of plants flows to the points of
consumption, it is still difficult to explain why it should per-
sistently tend upward to the top of a prostrate trunk, or of a
standing tree, for months after the bud, for the special nourish-
ment of which it is designed, has been destroyed, and after
the process of growth has been entirely suspended.

It is evident, in conclusion, that there yet remains ample
room for investigation concerning the phenomena connected
with the development of plants and the circulation of sap.
Though we cannot hope to exhaust the subject, or to discover
precisely what the force is which we call life, and which
imparts to every species and individual of the vegetable world
its peculiar form and characteristics, it is none the less impor-
tant and interesting to exercise our utmost ingenuity in the
effort to discover the times and modes of its operation, and
its relations to the other forces of Nature.

LATEST AND COMMON NAMES OF SPECEES.

Abies bahamea,

Balsam Fir.

Pinus longifolia,

Chir.

A. Canadensis,

Hemlock.

P. rigida,

Yellow Pine.

A. nigra,

Black Spruce.

P. Strobus, .

White Pine.

A. Picea,

Silver Fir.

Platanus occidentalis,

Buttonwood.

Acer Pennsylvanicum,

Striped Maple.

Populus tremuloides,

Aspen.

A. rubrum, .

Red Maple.

Primus Amygdalus,

Almond.

A. saccharinum, .

Sugar Maple.

P. Armeniaca,

Apricot.

Alnus incana,

European Alder.

P. Avium, .

English Cherry.

A. serrulata,

Alder.

P. domestica,

Plum.

Amelanch ier CanadensL

, Shad Bush.

P. Pennsylvania,

Bird Cherry.

Betula alba var. popu-

P. Persica, .

Peach.

li folia.

White Birch.

P. serotina, .

Wild Cherry.

B. lenta,

Black Birch.

P. Virginiana, .

Choke Cherry.

B. lutea,

Yellow Birch.

Pyrus auciqiaria,

Mountain Ash.

B. papyracea,

Paper Birch.

P. baccata, .

Siberian Crab.

Carpinns Americana, .

Hornbeam.

P. Mains, .

Apple.

Castanea vesca. var

Quercus alba,

White Oak.

Americana,

Chestnut.

Q. coccinea var. tincto

Carya alba, .

Hickory.

ria, .

Black Oak.

C. amara,

Bitternut.

Q. rubra,

Red Oak.

Cornits aUernifolia,

Cornel.

Salix alba, .

White Willow.

Cratcegus coccinea,

Thorn.

S. Babylonica,

Weeping Willow

Cydonia vulgaris,

Quince.

S. discolor, .

Glaucous Willow

Fagus ferruginea,

Beech.

Syringa vulgaris,

Lilac.

Fraximns Americana,

Ash.

Tectona grandis,

Teak.

Juglans cinerea,

Butternut.

Tilia Americana,

Bass.

J. 7iigra,

Black Walnut.

T. Europea, .

Linden.

Mortis alba, .

Mulberry.

Ulmus Americana,

Elm.

Ostrya Virginica, .

Ironwood.

Vitis aestivalis,

Grape.

Phoradendronjiavescens

, Mistletoe.

V. vim/era, .

European Grape.

FLOW OF SAP.

267

TABLE

Showing1 the date and amount of the Flow of Sap from species which
bleed somewhat freely, with dimensions of specimens under observation.

NAME.

Height,
feet.

Girth,
feet. in.

Acer Pennsylvanicum,

22

1

A. saccharinum, No. 1, .

GO

6 10

A. saccharinum, No. 2, .

60

5 6

Betula alba var. populifolia,
B. lenta, ....

40

57

2 4
4 2

B. lutea, ....

58

3 1

B. papyracea,.
Carpinus Americana,

75
10

3 9
8

Juglans cinerea,

51

4 2

Ostrya Virginica, .
Vitis aestivalis,

54
35

2 2
8

Total amount of Sap collected from the following species during the
season of 1874.

Acer saccharinum, from Dec. 16, 1873, to Apr. 30, 1874,
A. saccharinum, (30 feet from ground) from April 1,
to May 1,

A. Pennsylvanicum, from Mar. 23, to May 4,
Betula alba var. populifolia, from Mar. 23, to May 23

B. lenta, from Mar. 29, to May 29,
B. lutea, from Apr. 3, to May 27, .
B. papyracea, from Mar. 29, to May 26,
Carpinus Americana, from Apr. 9, to May 22,
Juglans cinerea, from Mar. 23, to May 18, .
Ostrya Virginica, from Apr. 16, to May 26, .
Vitis aestivalis, from May 11, to June 3,

12

11

15

6

7

9

13
13

268

• BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Flow of Sap.

DATE.

1 i

8 >
<

> .

« 53
CO 3

I °

u P.

M

a

u

a

s

C5

to

3

c,

a.
a
a,

3

a

C3

a
"a

a

<3

•4

d

a>

3
£.

3

pq

I

3 .

a cj

s «

d
o

B

>

03
u

O

1874.

lbs. oz.

lbs. oz.

lbs. oz.

lbs. oz.

lbs. oz.

lbs. oz.

lbs. oz.

lbs. oz.

lbs. oz.

Mar. 23,

5

1 2

10

-

_

-

_

-

-

26,

14

7

1 10

-

-

-

-

-

-

27,

4

6

1 5

-

-

-

-

-

-

28,

13

2

9

-

-

-

-

-

-

29,

1

2 11

7

3

1

-

-

-

-

30,

4

1 8

8

-

-

-

-

-

-

31,

13

2 4

1 1

2

-

-

-

-

-

Apr. 1,

2

2 2

5

2

-

2

-

-

-

2,

9

1

2

-

-

4 7

-

-

-

3,

5

2

10

1

-

7 15

2

-

-

4,

10

2 15

10

11

2

-

1 10

-

-

5,

-

1 2

-

10

1 1

1

2

-

-

6,

8

1

6

2

2

4

2

-

-

7,

15

4

11

4

10

5 2

1 12

-

-

8,

1 9

3 10

6

1 11

2 13

8 8

5 4

-

-

9,

3

7 15

1 3

4 14

6 7

7

8 5

1 3

-

10,

3

9 8

13

9 2

8

-

9 2

1

-

11,

7

10 12

5

9 9

11 4

1 4

13

3

-

12,

-

9 1

5

12 9

14 4

-

14 8

-

-

13,

6

-

1

1

12 4

1 4

6 2

-

-

14,

6

4

10

2 4

7 12

7 12

8 6

-

-

15,

1

6 10

12

14 13

16 11

1 10

18 14

-

-

16,

3

9 2

4

25 5

20 10

-

27

-

1

17,

1

10

-

28 9

22 2

-

25 7

1

2 15

18,

1

4 13

1

27 14

JO 14

3 7

19 6

-

1 3

19,

1 10

7 1

15

:38 1

20 4

8

31 4

-

-

20,

11

8 14

-

47 1

22 2

1 2

47

-

2 14

21,

5

7 10

11

57 2

12 10

8

54 9

1

2 1

22,

4

7 7

1

51 2

5 12

-

31 8

-

12

23,

4

7 3

5

53 13

5 14

-

21 5

-

14

24,

1

5 11

3

51 5

6 3

-

15 13

-

2

25,

3

5 15

2

58 7

6 4

-

13 6

-

12

26,

1

2 2

1

53 11

6 14

3 6

10 2

-

4

27,

15

3 5

9

56 2

5 7

-

8 15

-

1

28,

3

2 6

3

54 9

6 9

2 6

9 12

-

4

29,

5

2

5

52 12

5 3

-

9

• -

-

30,

1 6

1 9

2

50 7

4 13

-

7 14

-

-

May 1,

2,

1

1 15

2 4

1

52 2
52 5

4 15

5 7

—

8 8

9 8

—

-

3,

-

1 15

3

57 5

14 7

-

24 11

-

-

4,

1

2 1

11

62 10

6 15

—

42 13

-

1 4

FLOW OF SAP.

269

Flow of Sap — Continued.

DATE.

> .

« .2

73 =*

m

at

a

c

03
9

03

s

Pi

c3

M

3

i

C 03

p. c

os o

o

03
O

-E

01

£->

u

O

1 874.

lbs. oz.

lbs. oz.

lbs. oz.

lbs. oz.

lbs. oz.

lbs. oz.

lbs. oz.

lbs. oz.

May 5,

-

2 4

7

63 4

5 15

47 1

-

6 2

6, .

-

1 4

-

57 13

5 5

43 14

15

9 10

7, .

-

1 7

3

53 14

5 8

42 7

4

12 4

8, .

-

1 3

-

49 1

4 2

39 8

1

11 3

9, .

-

1 4

-

46 7

3 12

37 8

-

9

10, .

-

2 3

-

50 6

6 9

43 2

-

15 5

11, •

6

1 8

-

36 1

8 8

33 8

4

22 3

12, .

6

5

-

30 2

12 5

30 4

5

24 4

13, .

3

8

-

26 6

11 14

26 6

1

24 2

14, .

6

2

-

23 5

4 10

22 6

-

26 3

15, .

12

-

-

12 10

2 15

10 6

-

20 10

16, .

2 5

3

-

9 3

1 15

7 15

1 4

19 14

17,

2 6

1 4

-

14 10

13 13

15 10

1 9

27 2

18, .

2 1

4

1

7 9

4 9

2 5

1

14 12

19,

1 8

-

-

3 14

11 9

8 11

7

14 13

20,

13

1 13

-

2 2

1 15

2 5

_

3 1

21, .

8

-

-

7 1

12

12

-

1 14

22,

8

12

-

14

6 2

5 6

1

7 13

23,

4

-

-

-

-

12

-

5

24, .

3

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

25, .

6

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

26,

10

-

-

3

11

2 7

-

1 3

27, .

8

-

-

-

-

-

_

-

28,

1

-

-

-

■ -

-

-

-

29,

1

-

-

-

-

-

-

_

30,

2

-

-

-

-

-

-

_

31, ..

1

-

-

-

-

-

-

—

June 1,

9

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

3, •

3,

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

270

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Flow of Sap — Concluded.

Date.

Acer sac-
cliarinum.

Date.

Acer sac-
charinurn.

Date.

Acer sac-
charinum.

1873.

lbs. oz.

1874.

lbs. oz.

1 874.

lbs. oz.

Dec. 16,

16 7

Mar. 2,

21 15

Mar. 30,

24

17, .

-

3, .

25 4

31, .

6

18, .

-

4, •

8 13

Apr. 1,

5

19, .

-

5, .

11 8

9

-j, *

6

20,

8

7, .

7 3

18, .

36

21, .

3

8, .

23 3

19, .

19

22,

10

14, .

5 11

20, .

-

15, .

17 4

21,

12

1874.

16, .

29

22, .

8

Jan. 2,

5 3

17, .

23

23, .

4

3, •

8 10

18, .

24 12

24,

3

4, .

10 5

19, .

16

25, .

-

7, .

-

20, .

6 4

26, .

11

8, .

10 9

21, .

48 4

27, .

10 8

9, .

10 1

22,

6 10

28,

-

10, .

2 10

25, '.

12 8

29, .

-

11, .

4

27, .

24

30,

-

23,

-

28, .

25

24, .

2 15

29, .

12

TABLE

Showing the variations in Water Gauges attached to roots of trees.
The figures indicate inches of water in tubes of such size that a column
of thirty-six inches weighs one ounce. The minus sign denotes absorp-
tion of the water by the root, and the absence of the sign denotes flow of
sap from the root. The size of the trees is unimportant, but they were
all vigorous specimens, standing in open ground. A summary of the
principal facts relating to the four species which showed the greatest
fluctuations is given below.

Acer saccharinum. — Water gauge attached, May 1. Maximum absorption was 69
inches or 1.91 ounces of water, May 10. Minimum, 2 inches or 0.055 of an ounce,
June 1. Total absorption, in the month of May, 410.7 inches or 11.4 ounces. No
flow of sap.

Quercus alba. — Gauge attached, April 11. Maximum absorption, 46 inches or 1.28
ounces, May 2. The tube, however, was often emptied of its contents within an hour
or two after it was filled. Maximum flow, 2.5 inches or 0.07 of an ounce, May 26.
Total absorption, 759.1 inches or 21.09 ounces. Total flow, 3.5 inches or 0.097 of an
ounce.

Ulmus Americana. — Gauge attached, April 11. Maximum absorption, 26.5 inches
or 0.74 of an ounce, April 15. Maximum flow, 12.5 inches or 0.34 of an ounce, April
29. Total absorption, 155 inches or 4.30 ounces. Total flow, 256.8 inches or 7.13
ounces.

Pyrus Mains. — Gauge attached, April 11. Maximum absorption, 25.0 inches or 0.70
of an ounce, April 16. Maximum flow, 22 inches or 0.60 of an ounce, May 16. Total
absorption, 175.3 inches or 4.85 ounces. Total flow, 290.7 inches or 8.07 ounces.

WATER GAUGES.

271

Water Gauges.

BATE.

Acer sacchari-
num, detached
root.

1 1

g S
J |

Ulmus America-
na, detached
root.

. o
=s P

a *

<y

Fraxinus Amer-
icana, detach'd
root.

1874.

Apr. 11,

-

— 19.0

—7.5

—9.0

—45.0

—1.0

12,

-

— 13.0

—20

—8.0

—15.0

-

13,

-

—7.5

—2.0

—9.0

—15.0

—3.0

14,

-

—8.5

—3.0

—11.5

—45.0

—2.0

15,

-

—21.0

—8.0

—26.5

—29.5

—5.0

16,

-

—25.0

—6.0

—25.5

—30 0

—4.0

17,

-

-

—60

—25.5

—30.0

—2.0

18,

-

-

—3.0

—18.5

—30.0

—1.0

19,

-

-

—5.5

—16.0

—30.0

—1.5

20,

-

-

—3.5

—5.5

—30.0

—1.5

21,

-

-

—2.5

0.3

—31.0

—05

22,

-

—16.0

—1.0

1.3

—31.0

—0.5

23,

-

—15.5

—0.3

2.0

—31.0

—1.0

24,

-

—11.0

-

1.8

-

-

25,

-

—9.5

—2.0

3.5

—32.0

—1.0

26,

-

—5.5

—2.0

1.3

—310

—1.0

27,

-

—4.5

-

5.0

—12.0

—

28,

-

—12.0

-

6.5

—28.0

—0.8

29,

-

—2.3

-

12.5

—32.0

—0.5

30,

-

—3.0

—0.5

10.0

—30.0

—0.8

May 1,

- •

-

—0.3

8.0

—25.5

—0.3

2,

—14.2

—0.8

—1.5

7.5

—46.0

—0.5

3,

—17.5

—0.7

0.5

6.0

—20.0

—0.5

4,

—24.0

—0.7

—2.0

65

—15.5

—1.0

5,

—26.0

—0.3

—2.3

4.5

—17.0

—1.0

6,

—40.0

-

—3.0

10.0

—14.0

—1.0

7,

—38.0

0.3

—2.0

4.5

—12.0

—1.3

8,

—35.0

—0.5

—2.0

1.8

— 10.0

—1.0

9,

—32.0

0.3

—1.0

4.0

—7.0

—1.0

10,

—69.0

0.8

—1.0

1.7

—1.0

—0.7

11,

—36.0

4.0

—1.3

3.5

—2.0

—1.3

12,

—19.0

3.5

—1.3

1.0

—3.0

—1.0

13,

—21.0

3.0

—0.5

2.0

—1.0

—1.0

14,

—21.0

6.5

—1.0

2.5

—2.0

—1.0

15,

—16.0

10.5

—1.0

2.3

—4.0

—1.3

16,

—9.0

22.0

-

3.0

—3.0

—1.0

17,

—30

11.5

—05

4.0

-

—0.5

18,

—4.0

16.5

—0.5

4.0

—15

—05

19,

—10.0

13.0

-

4.0

—1.0

—1.0

20,

—9.0

9.0

—0.5

4.0

—1.8

—0.6

21,

—70

6.0

—0.5

40

—1.0

—0.6

22,

—2.0

5.5

-

4.0

0.5

—0.3

23,

—5.0

5.0

—0.8

3.0

0.5

—0.5

24,

—3.0

4.0

—0.6

3.0

1.0

—0.5

25,

—5.0

4.0

--0.3

3.5

—1.0

—0.6

26,

—2.0

8.5

0.5

5.0

2.5

—0.5

27,

—7.0

5.0

^0.5

3.0

—1.0

—1.0

28,

—7.0

5.0

-

4.0

—1.0

—1.0

29,

—6.0

6.5

—0.5

4.0

—0.5

—2.0

272

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Variation in Water Ganges — Concluded.

DATE.

Acer sacchari-
num, detached
root.

5- o
3 "3

S O

Ulmus America-
na, detached
root.

„ o

a u
"3 "g

3 o

Fraxlnus Amer-
icana, detach'd
root.

1874.

May 30,

—6.0

6.5

—0.3

4.0

—1.5

—2.0

81,

—5.0

7.0

—03

5.0

—1.5

—1.5

June 1,

—2.0

7.0

—0.3

5.0

—0.5

—1.0

2,

—5.0

8.0

—05

4.0

—1.3

—1.3

3,

—3.0

14.0

—0.3

4.0

—1.0

—1.3

4,

-

8.0

-

4.0

—2.0

—1.0

5,

-

90

-

4.0

—1.0

—1.0

6,

-

8.3

-

3.5

_

_

7,

-

12 0

-

4.6

-

-

8,

-

11.5

-

3.5

-

-

9,

-

12.0

-

3.0

-

-

10,

-

11.0

-

3.5

-

-

11, .

-

10.5

-

3.0

-

-

12,

-

8.5

-

4.0

-

-

13, .

-

6.5

-

2.5

-

-

14,

-

6.0

-

2.0

-

-

15,

-

5.0

-

3.0

-

-

16,

-

5.5

-

2.0

-

-

17,

-

5.0

-

2.0

-

-

18, .

-

6.0

-

5.0

-

-

19, .

-

5.0

-

2.0

-

-

20, .

-

4.0

-

2.5

-

-

21, .

-

6.0

-

1.5

-

-

22,

-

1.5

-

1.5

-

-

23, .

-

4.0

-

1.3

-

-

24, .

-

4.5

-

4.5

-

-

25, .

_

2.0

-

1.5

-

-

26, .

-

1.5

-

2.0

-

-

27, .

-

3.0

-

2.0

-

-

28, .

-

1.0

-

1.5

-

-

29, .

_

0.5

-

1.0

-

-

30, .

-

1.0

-

2.0

-

-

MERCURIAL GAUGES.

273

TABLE

Showing the fluctuations in Mercurial Gauges attached to the roots
and trunks of trees, with descriptions of the specimens under observa-
tion. The figures denote inches of mercury, and Avhen the minus sign is
prefixed they indicate suction ; otherwise, pressure. To convert inches of
mercury into feet of water, multiply the number by 13.60, the specific
gravity of mercury, and divide the product by 12. When the figures are
omitted for. one or more days after the record has begun.it shows that
in consequence of some accident no observation could be made. The
hour for the first observation of any day is seven a.m., that for the second,
is noon, and that for the third, is six P. M.

NAME.

Height,
feet.

Girth,
feet, in.

Acer rubrum,

40

2 6

A. saccharinum, .

60

6 4

Betula alba var. populifolia, .

30

1 4

B. alba var. populifolia, root,

35

1 8

B. lenta, root,

65

3 10

B. lutea,

60

3 8

B. papyracea,

•

60

3 9

Ostrya Virginica, .

45

2 10

Pyrus Mains, root,

35

2 9

Vitis aestivalis,

50

1 0

V. aestivalis, root, .

40

10

Mercurial Gauges.

DATE.

Betula alba var.
populifolia, de-
tached root.

Vitis aistivalis,
lower gauge.

.2 G>

■~ te
a s

33 to

8 »

to °>

.2 a

" S3
>

to O

... o

« *"•

> T3

8 g

T3

a «

1874— Apr. 12, .

8.6

18, . . .

22.5

-

-

-

-

21, .

25.2

-

-

_

_

22, .

26.0

-

—

-

-

23, .

26.4

-

-

_

-

24, . . .

27.0

-

-

_

_

25, .

283

-

-

-

-

26, .

27.3

_

_

-

_

27, . . .

28.0

-

-

-

_

28, .

28.3

-

-

-

_

29, .

27.3

_

-

_

_

30, .

28.3

_

_

_

_

May 1, .

2, .

27.8
28.2

-

-

—4.0

-

35

274

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Fluctuations in Mercurial Gauges — Continued.

DATE.

Betula alba var.
populifolia, de-
tached root.

Vitis aestivalis,
lower gauge.

to o

— to
s s
> a
B to

1 a>
Z °-
22. a.

>

to" O

a *
> -a

8 |
iS a>
>

0)

it

in a>
io ^5
3 2
>> *"

1874-

-May 3, .

30.0

—3.7

_

4, . . .

30.0

-

-

—3.3

-

5, .

31.0

-

-

—3.3

-

6, .

31.0

-

-

—2.9

-

7, .

31.0

9.8

-

—2.1

-

8, . . .

31.0

124

-

—2.0

-

9, .

31.5

9.0

-

—1.3

-

10, . . .

28 5

14.0

-

—0.2

-

11, . . .

315

80.2

-

3.1

-

12, . . . .

336

30.1

3.0

4.5

-

13, . . .

32.0

29.2

0.7

2.2

-

14, . .

31.0

39.2

10.2

8.6

-

15, .

24.6

59.0

30.0

22.6

—1.4

16, . . .

25.0"

58.0

35.0

17.4

2.5

17, .

26.9

50.0

30.0

8.8

4.8

-

52.5

29.0

10.5

65

18, . . .

16.8

450

24.3

15.0

6.7

19, . . .

17.0

45.0

22.3

107

3.9

20, .

9.0

40.0

20.0

84

3.2

21, . ...

6.7

39.2

18.0

118

5.7

22, .

-

410

16.3

10.7

5.7

23, .

0.4

35.7

15.7

11 1

5.2

—3.0

40.0

15.3

18.2

6.0

24, . . .

—2.0

45.4

14.4

19.5

6.0

-

51.0

15.0

23.0

-

-

53 9

15.0

-

-

25, .

—0.8

62.7

14.4

40.0

6.6

26, .

2.5

74.0

20.7

525

7.2

27, . . .

—3.0

66.0

23.5

42 9

_

-

57.0

23.3

48.0

8.4

28, '.

—5.3

49.2

23 3

47.0

7.0

-

54.0

22.0

65.0

-

29, .

—5.4

57.3

22.2

60.5

7.2

-

62.0

23 8

783

-

30, .

—5.0

59.8

24.5

66.5

90

-

-

-

78.0

12 5

-

-

-

72.0

6.2

81, .

—4.3

44.5

17.5

57.5

10 0

-

50.2

18.6

63.0

13 3

-

47.3

18.0

71.0

10.5

June 1, .

—3.0

48.0

17.0

54.3

9.0

-

40.0

16.0

52.2

7.4

2, .

—5.0

34.0

15.0

37 0

6.2

-

21.5

13.3

43.9

7.4

3, ,

-

23.6

12.5

37.6

5.1

-

195

11.3

42.1

7.1

4, . . .

—4.8

25.1

10.8

41.0

5.8

-

23 8

10.3

-

-

5, . . .

-

25.6

9.4

39.2

4.9

-

23.8

9.1

43.6

7.0

MERCURIAL GAUGES.

275

Fluctuations in

Mercur

ial Gauges — Continued.

DATE.

if i

<3 3 ' JK

las

> §
3 in

8 »

01 £

•g o

03 3
> 8

•a to

— °<
.2 o.
■g 3

.2 o

a *
> T3

t5 si
8 |

>

1 °

OS tl

g ■a

OI %

3 O

1874— June 6, .

27.0

85

41.8

4.3

-

26.8

7.9

48.0

5.7

7, .

—6.0

30.0

7.5

42.0

4.8

-

17.9

6.6

43.0

6.5

-

-

-

44.8

5.6

8, . . .

-

33.9

6.7

42.4

4.5

-

6.9

44

41.4

6.8

-

-

-

42.7

5.8

9, . . .

-

10.0

3.5

35.8

3.8

-

2.7

2.8

41.4

6.8

10, . . .

—10.0

6.0

2.0

37.0

4.1

-

-

-

38.3

7.3

-

-

-

42.0

7.3

11, .

—11.5

3.2

—0.3

34.2

4.0

_

-

_

33.3

6.6

-

-

-

32 2

6.3

12, . . .

—9.2

11.8

1.1

315

4.1

-

-

-

325

6.0

_

_

-

32.9

6.0

13, .

—10.8

0.2

—5.4

31.0

3.4

14, .

—11.2

—4.0

—3.3

30.2

3.5

15, .

—12.7

—8.0

—4.5

28.0

2.7

-

—0.3

—5.0

35.0

5.8

16, . . .

— 13.0

1.1

—6.0

34.6

2.8

-

—62

—6.6

38.6

4.5

17, . . .

—12.0

38

—7.1

38 0

4.5

18, . . .

—11.7

—3.4

—7.9

34.3

3.4

19, .

—12.4

—8.7

—9.0

30.3

3.0

20, .

—12.7

—6.3

—9.5

27.5

2.8

21, .

—12.4

—8.7

—9.3

31.5

2.0

-

-

-

35.6

2.5

22, .

— 12.2

—110

—9.1

34 3

1.8

-

-

-

38.2

2.0

23, .

—13.5

—11.0

—9.3

• 38.5

2.0

24, .

—13.7

—10.6

—9.5

39.0

2.6

25, .

—14.2

—117

—9.0

34.3

2.2

26, .

—14 6

—8.5

—90

33.0

2^0

27, . . .

—13.6

—8.7

—8.3

39 0

3.0

28, .

—14 3

—113

—7.9

38.5

1.8

29, .

—14.4

—12.7

—7.0

37.3

2.0

30, .

—14.6

—110

—7.5

39.0

0.8

July 1, .
2, .

—15.0
—15.5

-

-

37.6
38.5

-

3, .

—15.5

-

-

41.0

_

4, .

—16.0

-

_

40.0

_

5, . . .

—15.8

-

-

35 3

_

6, .

-16.1

—8.6

—5.3

33.3

_

7, .

—16.2

-

_

34.3

_

8, .

—16.3

_

_

36.0

_

9, . . .

—16.4

~

-

40.4

-

276

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Fluctuations in Mercurial Gauges — Concluded.

es .5 2

<2 o

a 3

.2 &

«! O

~ o
a u

DATE.

ctula alb
populifol
taclicd r<

. 1 s

> a
.2 P.

> T3

8 1
.2 "S

12 •o

a o

a *

(h c3

a

> "

>

>

£ *"

1874-

-July 10, .

—16.5

_

_

44.0

_

12,

—15.8

-

-

37.5

-

13,

—15.0

-

-

32.7

-

14,

—16.6

-

-

33.5

-

15,

—16.4

-

-

37.4

-

16,

—15.8

-

-

42.0

-

17,

—16.6

-

-

43.0

-

18,

— 16.6

-

-

40.4

-

19,

— 16 7

—6.5

—5.0

41.6

-

20,

— 16.7

_

_

42.2

-

21,

—16.5

_

_

41.0

-

22,

—16.6

_

-

36.0

-

23,

—16.6

—6.7

—4.4

34.0

-

24,

—16.8

_

_

38.5

-

25,

—16.8

_

_

39.7

-

26,

—17.0

—6.8

—5.0

42.0

-

27,

—17.0

_

_

37.9

-

28,

—17.4

_

_

36.5

-

29,

—17.4

_

-

35 4

-

30,

—17.2

_

_

35.6

-

31,

—17.9

_

_

28.4

_

AU£\ 1,

—17.9

_

_

28.9

_

3,

—18.4

_

_

33.4

_

4,

—19.4

_

_

29.9

_

5,

—19 4

—3.0

—5.0

29.0

_

6,

—18 5

_

_

27.1

_

7,

—19.0

_

_

28.7

_

8,

—18.8

_

_

31.5

_

9,

—18.5

_

_

31.4

—

10,

—18.2

_

_

31.0

_

11,

—18.3

_

_

27.2

_

12,

—18 3

_

_

28.9

_

13,

—18.3

_

_

26.0

_

14,

i

—18.8

_

_

24.1

_

15,

—18.9

_

_

23.6

_

16,

—18.8

_

_

28.2

_

17,

—19.2

—3.5

—6.3

25.3

18,

—19.2

_

_

26.0

_

19,

—19.3

_

_

26.0

_

20,

—19.4

_

_

21.2

_

21,

—19.3

_

_

23.2

_

22,

—19 3

_

_

27.7

_

23,

—19.6

_

_

18.8

_

25,

—19.8

_

_

17.9

_

26,

—20.2

_

_

18.4

_

27,

—19.4

_

_

21.1

_

29,

—19.4

_

_

20.6

_

30,

—19.0

_

_

22.4

—

31,

—19.0

_

_

20.8

-

Sept. 14,

—

-

-

17.0

—

MERCURIAL GAUGES.

277

Fluctuations in Mercurial Gauges.

DATE.

- a
a to

£ a
3 §>
* 8
s 1

a to

0J 3

3 *x)

u

■= D<

5 o<

"S =

a

•o

C3 o

c 2

Si -a
x a
3 a

5 rt
M

u

at

si

3 £
el 3

i §•

ai P.

a

03

i

>

1

O

1874-

-Apr. 9, .

14.2

_

9.5

16.5

-

-

11.5

1.5

17.0

-

-

11.4

0.9

10, .

18 5

-

-

13.2

1.6

21.0

-

-

14.7

3.5

20.6

-

-

13.7

0.5

11, . . .

22 2

-

-

15.4

3.8

22.5

-

-

14.0

0.6

21.2

-

-

0.3

—2.7

12, . . .

30.0

-

-

-

5.0

29.6

-

-

0.3

5.2

—0.1

-

-

0.2

—2.0

13, .

116

-

-

2.2

1.6

—1.6

-

-

0.2

—1.5

—5.7

-

-

—2.2

—1.4

14, . . .

9.9

-

-

4.0

1.8

11.0

-

-

1.2

1.5

11.5

-

-

0.3

1.5

15, . . .

22.6

-

-

0.5

2.6

27.0

-

-

10.2

6.0

27.0

-

-

10.5

6.3

16, . . .

27.7

-

-

11.8

7.2

32.0

-

-

15.5

10.5

31.6

-

-

11.4

10.2

17, . . .

34.0

-

-

14.8

11.4

35.5

-

-

14 6

10.4

36.1

-

-

-

9.6

18, . . .

50.5

-

-

29.0

16.5

29.0

-

-

29.6

3.0

34.4

-

-

27.0

0.7

19, . . .

38 0

-

-

10.3

4.8

47.0

-

-

-

11.5

45.0

-

-

-

7.5

20, .

49 0

-

-

-

8.2

53.0

-

-

-

93

53.6

-

-

-

9.0

21, . . .

57.6

-

-

-

8.9

63.0

-

-

-

11.0

52.2

-

-

18 0

5.0

22, .

29.6

-

-

10.3

2.5

65.5

-

-

32.8

10.0

.

-

-

-

26.0

7.3

23, .

-

-

-

24.4

5.4

53.0

-

23.6

35.0

6.2

52 6

-

260

33.6

2.0

24, . . .

35 0

5.0

63.0

20.8

3.4

65.0

36.8

58.0

28.8

8.2

52.6

19.8

52.0

25 0

5.8

25, .

48.8

22.0

51.4

32.2

3.3

52.0

22.0

43 0

22.7

0.2

278

BOAED OF AGRICULTURE.

Fluctuations in Mercurial Gauges — Continued.

DATE.

as to
a p

I s.
| 1

* <D

05 to

a, s

2 to

u

* S
S o>

s

0

c 2

n a
B «

pq

£

a

> .

- 3
« h:

«s "3

S o
cS P.

e!

u

"3

B

>

|

O

1874-

-Apr. 25, .

43.0

15.5

30.0

20.0

—3.3

26, .

-

-

4.4

—0.6

2.2

36.0

11.6

33.8

23.4

1.5

33.0

8.7

33.0

15.4

—6.7

27, .

45.7

20.1

35.3

25.5

1.7

58.0

34.2

37.6

24.3

7.0

42 5

15.7

33.4

98

—6.7

28, .

463

—9.3

7.3

3.7

-

36.6

123

19.2

'—0.2

2.8

26 0

3.2

20.0

2.2

—3.8

29, .

37.3

13.5

236

-

—0.2

43.5

19.0

26.6

-

23

44.8

20.0

30.0

-

1.6

30, .

41.6

17.7

-

7.3

2.6

47.6

22.0

-

17.5

3.2

50 0

23 0

-

6.8

5.0

May 1, .

42.6

16.5

-

-

0.2

56.0

28.3

44.1

4.8

6.3

54.0

26.6

46.0

8.5

6.2

2, .

42.0

15.0

55.5

6.5

0.4

-

0.8

37.0

14.1

4.8

-

0.8

29.0

8.8

4.0

3, .

-

—5.5

32.0

—1.5

3.5

-

18.5

40.0

30.0

11.0

_

3.0

52.6

6.0

10.7

4, .

-

0.5

45.5

—1.4

10.0

62.3

35.0

41.5

34 5

15.0

38.6

13.0

52.4

13.2

15.1

5, .

32.0

10.3

52.5

2.0

13.0

54.0

29.4

51.2

27

16.6

38.5

11.5

54.0

12.0

14.0

6, .

14 0

-

50.7

0.6

10.2

52 8

25.5

55.7

1.5

22.4

27.0

0.2

615

12

20.8

7, .

4.3

—1.0

56.6

—4.1

22.5

45.0

19 8

532

23.2

25.2

36.2

11.0

57.3

10.4

25.2

8, .

11.3

0.2

55.2

—0.6

23.6

51.9

25.9

56.1

186

28.5

31.2

44

59.2

7.4

22.1

9, .

6.4

-

59.1

—6.4

21.7

63.2

36.4

60.3

32.0

31.6

40.0

5.6

62.1

12.0

29.0

10, .

26.0

3.7

64.5

—4.9

33.4

40.0

28

66.0

10.7

24.1

2.6

-

68.0

—15.0

10.2

11. .

6.6

1.0

56.0

—17.0

10.3

39.0

20.0

56.9

7.4

10.5

7.4

9.5

15.0

0.8

-

12, . . .

—1.6

8.1

61.0

101

"

MERCURIAL GAUGES.

279

Fluctuations in Mercurial Gauges — Continued.

DATE.

£ 3

a ?
3. to

» o
a to

v a

S to

V

■a

cj~ o

e 2

u
a
> .

a «

•3

C

s

c3 v

* 8

cs a

a

il

3 ft

3 g

S o

% ft

§

P5

«

pq

M

o

1874— May 12, .

11.0

—4.1

53.0

17.2

6.8

—4.8

—3.6

54.6

—0.2

29.6

13, . . .

—3.5

—3.7

56.0

2.3

35.6

-

-

-

-

—3.0

5.6

—9.8

61.0

-

23.9

14, .

4.6

—2.9

58.0

—9.1

28 4

23.0

—0.8

59.0

3.7

21.4

— 11.2

—26

58.7

—2.6

8.0

15, . .

— 13.1

—2.6

52.5

—11.0

15.7

15.4

—2.3

54.1

-2.0

16.2

—10.7

—2.4

53.0

—85

—3.6

16, . . .

7.8

—2.4

42.2

—0.3

9.0

5.2

—2.0

44.2

4.3

—2.7

—19.8

—2.0

43.0

—6.0

—17.1

17, .

—14.3

—2.1

38.0

—10.1

—10 5

98

—2.1

37.0

—57

7.7

10.0

—2.1

36.9

—4.4

7.9

18, .

27

—2.1

33.2

—4.0

—8.0

3.0

—2.8

32.4

—2.7

—6.3

19, . . .

—2.7

—2.1

33.2

—4.0

—8.0

—185

2.2

32.8

—6.3

—21.7

20, .

—15.6

2.2

29.4

—8.5

—16.0

13.4

—2.1

32.2

—6.0

15.1

16.3

—2.0

32.0

—10.1

13.0

21, . . .

—14.7

—2.1

30.2

—12.0

—9.3

1.0

2.2

30.6

—10.0

—6.0

—1.6 .

— 2!l

30.5

—9.8

—5.3

22, .

60

-

28.0

—8.4

—3.2

—9.0

-

28.8

—7.3

—6.0

—14.0

-

28 4

—10.6

—9.4

23, .

—14 0

-

25.0

—12.0

—7.1

—14.2

-

28.3

—12.0

—5.8

—14.5

-

28.3

—10.0

—5.0

24, . . .

—13 8

-

25.2

—15.0

5.0

—12.6

-

29.5

—14.0

5.0

—12.3

-

28.8

—14.0

48

25, .

—79

-

27.8

—14.0

—5.3

—5.0

-

28.0

—13.0

—4.0

—2.9

-

28.0

— 1L9

—3.0

26 . .

—1.0

-

25.5

—11.4

2.0

—7.0

-

26.0

—11.7

—7.6

—9.3

-

25.0

—10.4

6.3

27 .

—9.6

-

22.0

—11.1

—5.5

—8.3

-

25.4

—8.6

—4.9

—7.0

-

26.0

—8.5

—5.0

28, .

—7.4

-

22.6

—9.6

—5.0

—6.0

-

25.9

—6.6

—4.4

—6.0

-

25.6

—6.8

—5.0

29, .

—5.5

-

22.6

—5.5

—4.8

—5.3

-

25.0

—4.0

—4.3

280

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Fluctuations in Mercurial Gauges — Concluded.

DATE.

ej to

o 3

u

I 1

a! to
a 3
3 tj

d £

-~ p.
3 a.

V =>

pa

•a

II

B S

a

a

> .

£ Q

a 3
5 o

£> fit

i

a

u

>

O

1874— May 29, .
30, .

—5.3
—5.0

-

27.7
22.0

—4.9
—6.0

—5.0
—4.8

—3.2

-

260

—4.0

—4.4

—3.0

-

25.5

—4.4

—1.6

31, .

—2.3

-

21.4

—5.3

—4.5

—1.8

-

23.2

—4.4

—4.8

June, 1, .

—1.9

-

20.0

—5.0

—4.5

—1.5

-

21.0

—2.6

—5.0

—2.0

-

20.4

—3.0

—1.8

2, .

—2.5

_

18.0

—5.2

—4.7

—1.2

-

16.4

—4.7

—4.6

3, .

—1.2

_

16.4

—4.7

—4.6

4, .

—2.1

_

173

—5.2

—4.6

5, .

2.2

_

17.0

—1.7

—4.6

6, .

—2.0

_

17.0

—3.0

—4.6

7, .

1.4

-

16.7

—3.4

-

8, .

1.5

_

17.0

—2.4

-

9, .

—0.4

-

14.7

—4.6

-

10, .

-

-

14.2

—3.0

-

11, .

0.3

-

10.0

—4.0

-

12, .

03

_

10.0

—3.6

-

13, .

0.1

-

5.0

—3.7

-

14, .

—0.3

-

9.0

—4.0

-

15, .

—0.4

-

10.0

—4.0

-

16, .

0.4

-

11.5

—3.4

-

17, .

10

-

12.0

—3.0

-

18, .

1.8

-

14.3

—3.0

-

19, .

1.0

-

126

—3.2

-

20, .

1.4

-

12 0

-

-

22, .

0.7

-

12.0

-

-

23, .

1.0

-

12.4

-

-

24, .

1.3

-

12.4

—0.7

-

25, .

05

-

11.0

—1.0

-

26, .

0.7

-

11.6

—0.6

-

27, .

1.5

-

11.6

—1.0

-

28, .

1.3

11.4

— 1.4

-

29, .

1.7

11.0

—1.0

-

30, .

1.7

-

10.7

—2.0

—

MERCURIAL GAUGE.

Fluctuations in Mercurial Gauge.

281

Date.

Betula
papyracea.

Date.

Betula
papyracea.

Date.

Betula
papyracea.

1874.

1874.

1874.

May 3,

4, .

38 0
36.0

May 16,

—1.6
—5.6

May 29,

—1.6
—2.8

32.0

17, .

—3.4

30,

—0.5

39.0

—2.0

—1.8

5, .

51.4

1.3

—2.8

49.7

18, .

—3.3

31, .

4.5

46.0

4.2

—3.6

6, .

49.0

19, .

—3.4

June 1,

4.6

54.0

—24

—3.7

480

—3.0

—2.8

7, .

48.5

20, .

—4.3

2,

—4.7

51.2

—2.3

3, .

—4.8

45 8

—3.0

4, .

—4.6

8, .

32.4

21,

—3.3

5, .

—4.4

48.8

—2.4

6, •

—4.4

44.7

—1.3

rt
4 ,

—4.5

9, .

28.1

22, .

—2.4

8,

—5.0

51.5

—2.0

9, •

—6.0

47.0

—2.7

10, .

—5.4

10, .

39.0

23,

—3.0

11,

—6.5

48.0

—1.1

12, .

—6.0

26.7

—1.0

13, .

—6.5

11, •

7.0

24, .

—2.0

14,

—7.0

33 3

0.6

15, .

—5.4

13.0

—18

16, .

—5.0

12,

—2.7

25,

—2.4

17, .

4.7

35.9

—2.2

18,

—5.5

20.0

—2.0

19, .

—5.2

13, .

—2.3

26,

—2.3

20,

—5.6

17.5

—2.0

22,

—4.4

—6.2

—2.6

23,

—4.4

14, .

—2.5

27, .

—4.0

24, .

—5.0

11.5

—0.6

25,

—6.0

—28

—1.0

26,

-^.4

15,

—1.8

28,

—3.8

27, .

—6.0

7.1

—2.2

28,

—6.0

11.6

—2.4

29,

—5.6

16, .

5.4

29,

—3.8

30,

—6.0

36

282 .

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Fluctuations in Mercurial Gauges.
Acer saccharinum.

DATE.

Gauge 1.

Gauge 2.

Gauge 3.

Gauge 4.

Gauge 5.

1874-

-Mar.21, .

18.0

18.0

—6.8

4.3

6.0

19.0

193

—3.3

18.5

3.5

—1.2

1.3

—3.5

5.0

—1.5

22, .

—4.0

—2.0

—3.5

3.0

—0.5

—2.3

0.5

-

2.6

-

—5.5

—6.0

—2.5

0.2

-

23, .

-

—5.3

—3.0

7.7

-

27, .

4.3

2.0

—4.0

—4.0

-

22.0

24.0

2.0

15.2

8.2

25.5

9.5

—2.0

6.4

—0.3

28, .

26.3

10.0

—3.0

6.7

-

35.0

32.0

0.5

19.7

14.3

16.0

17.0

1.0

15.0

—4.0

29, .

25.0

15.5

0.6

123

—4.0

12.6

17.0

1.0

10.0

2.3

30, .

16.5

17.2

1.1

11.0

0.3

26.4

24.0

1.0

14.0

24.0

22.8

24.7

0.2

16.6

6.0

31, .

25.5

12.2

-

9.0

—23.0

1.2

ll'.O

-

6.4

8.2

Apr. 1, .

3.3

10.2

1.0

2.7

9,0

3.1

10.0

1.0

3.0

8.5

18.0

16.3

3.0

11.8

16.9

2, .

19.0

16.0

1.5

13.2

12.5

-

-

1.2

8.0

46.0

_

—

0.6

14.6

8.0

3, .

_

-

3.0

5.0

0.2

17.5

13.0

-

13.9

0.2

4, .

2.2

—6.8

2.7

4.0

—2.0

—1.7

—4.0

24

4.0

—1.4

—1.0

-

2.2

3.6

—1.6

5, . . .

—1.6

-

1.0

3.8

—2.0

—0.3

2.2

1.0

1.4

-

15.5

-

1.4

54

1.2

6, .

7.3

11.1

4.0

4.0

1.8

25.1

6.0

1.4

0.5

1.2

16.2

14.0

1.1

10.9

0.8

7, . . .

—11.7

3.0

1.1

1.0

-

25 0

5.1

1.4

0.9

23.0

21.0

12.3

1.0

11.1

4.1

8, .

—7.8

—1.5

1.1

1.8

—0.1

26.1

6.1

1.1

11.3

13.1

12.1

11.1

1.1

9.6

—0.2

9, .

—2.8

6.1

1.0

34

—1.7

—1.0

5.2

1.0

2.9

1.1

—4.0

4.0

1.0

2.3

1.4

10, .

—6.1

1.6

0.8

1.3

—1.2

1.6

2.4

1.0

2.0

—1.1

—4.7

2.5

1.0

1.4

—1.1

MERCURIAL GAUGES.

Fluctuations in Mercurial Gauges — Continued.

283

DATE.

Gauge 1.

Gauge 2.

Gauge 3.

Gauge 4.

Gauge 5.

1874 — Apr. 11, .

—16.0

—2.7

1.0

—2.3

3.1

12.0

1.8

1.0

8.7

—2.8

2.0

33

1.0

6.2

—1.1

12, . . .

—0.7

—0.4

2.0

—0.3

—1.1

-

-

1.0

-

-

—10.7

—0.3

2.0

—0.9

—0.9

13, . . .

—9.6

—0.3

2.2

4.0

3.0

1.6

—0.5

1.0

—1.2

—3.0

15.0

1.2

1.0

9.0

3.3

14, . . .

—6.1

—0.4

1.0

—0.7

3.8

26.2

3.1

1.0

11.4

13.6

17.0

5.3

-

10.7

1.3

15, . . .

5.9

56

1.0

8.4

—0.6

7.9

6.4

0.9

82

—0.4

05

6.1

1.0

6.9

—0.3

16, . . .

—6.5

2.8

1.0

0.7

—0.3

—0.5

3.0

0.9

0.7

—0.3

—2.8

1.7

1.0

_

—0.3

17, . . .

—5.3

1.3

1.0

—1.2

—0.2

—36

1.1

1.2

—1.3

—0.2

—33

1.0

1.1

—1.6

—0.3

18, . . .

3.3

—2.4

1.5

3.4

2.2

14.1

—0.7

1.0

11.0

21.0

19.0

—1.0

0.9

12.0

4.7

19, . . .

13.0

—1.4

1.0

8.4

-0.4

15.0

—3.0

1.0

10.2

-

14.4

—3.6

0.8

9.7

-

20, .

5.0

2.0

0.9

2.0

_

2.6

1.8

10

1.4

-

2.3

1.9

1.0

1.0

_

21, . . .

1.8

1.9

0.5

-

_

2.1

2.0

0.8

2.2

2.0

2.6

2.2

0.7

1.4

0.2

22, .

—0.4

1.3

0.6

—4.5

_

2.0

2.1

0.7

—5.3

0.3

3.1

2.4

0.5

7.5

0.2

23, .

1.1

18

0.5

1.0

0.1

1.1

1.8

0.5

1.3

0.2

1.0

1.8

0.4

1.0

0.2

24, . .• .

-

1.2

0.2

0.3

0.2

1.2

2.0

—2.6

4.2

0.3

1.0

2.0

—4.0

4.0

0.3

25, .

—0.6

1.3

—53

-

0.2

—0.6

1.4

—5.0

-

_

—0.6

1.3

—5.0

—2.0

—0.2

26, .

—2.1

1.0

—0.8

—3.5

1.0

—1.7

1.2

—4.3

10.6

2.0

27, . . .

—1.5

1.0

—4.5

80

—1.0

—1.0

1.6

—4.2

87

0.4

28, . . ' .

—3.4

0.6

—0.4

2.8

0.2

—2.5

1.1

—8.3

8.8

0.3

—2.0

1.3

—7.0

9.8

0.3

29, .

—1.5

1.2

—5.6

5.5

0.5

284 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Fluctuations in Mercurial Gauges — Concluded.

DATE.

Gauge 1.

Gauge 2.

Gauge 3.

Gauge 4.

Gauge 5.

1874-

-Apr. 30, .

—2.5

1.5

—5.9

1.8

0.7

—2.6

1.5

—6.0

2.0

0.5

—2.0

1.6

—5.8

2.5

0.6

May 1, .

—2.5

1.5

—56

1.1

0.4

—2.6

1.9

—5.9

2.3

0.6

—2.9

-

—5.9

-

0.6

2, . . .

—35

-

—5.8

-

0.5

—3.7

-

—6.2

0.6

0.5

—3.6

-

—6.2

0.2

0.6

3, . . .

—4.8

-

—7.0

—1.2

0.4

—4.0

-

—66

3.0

0.7

4, . . .

—4.3

-

—70

—2.0

0.5

—3.5

-

—6.0

2.1

0.5

5, .

—26

-

—3.3

—03

0.6

6, . . .

—2.5

-

—3.2

—2.1

0.5

—10

-

—3.0

—0.8

0.8

7, . . .

—1.5

-

—3.0

—2.1

0.6

—1.2

-

—27

—2.0

0.6

8, . . .

—1.1

-

—31

—2.1

0.5

—0.6

-

—2.5

—1.2

0.9

9, . . .

—0.6

-

—2.8

—2.3

n.6

—0.1

-

—2.1

—0.6

0.8

10, . . .

1.0

-

—2.8

—1.3

1.0

1.8

-

—3.2

—13

0.9

11, .

03

-

—3.0

—1.3

0.8

12, . . .

1.2

-

—1.8

—2.6

0.1

1.6

-

—0.5

—2.1

1.1

13, . . .

0.9

-

—1.2

—1.8

1.0

2.0

-

—0.3

—2.0

1.3

14, . . .

0.1

-

—2.0

—2.0

1.0

1.2

-

—2.4

—1.7

1.2

15, . . .

-

-

—4.2

—2.1

1.0

1.4

-

-

—3.0

1.3

16, . . .

0.4

-

-

—2.0

1.1

0.4

-

-

—1.5

1.1

17, . . .

0.3

-

-

—2.0

1.0

20, .

0.1

-

-

—2.1

1.0

21, . .

0.6

-

-

—2.0

1.0

22, .

0.5

-

-

—1.8

0.8

23, .

0.3

-

-

—2.0

0.6

24, .

0.6

-

-

—2.0

1.2

25, .

1.0

-

-

—1.8

1.0

26, .

1.0

-

-

—1.3

1.4

27, .

0.4

-

-

—2.0

1.3

28, .

0.2

-

-

—2.0

1.4

29, .

0.2

-

-

—2.0

1.0

30, .

0.2

-

-

—2.0

1.0

31, .

0.9

-

-

—1.8

1.5

June 1, .

1.2

-

-

—1.9

1.4

2, . . .

0.5

-

-

—21

0.8

MERCURIAL GAUGES.

285

Fluctuations in Mercurial Gauges.

DATE.

Acer

Juglans

DATE.

Acer

Juglana

rubrum.

cincrea.

rubrum.

cinerea.

1874.

1874.

Mar. 28, .

2.1

_

Apr. 11, .

3.9

1.8

9.2

10

1.4

5.3

2.5

1.5

12, .

9.0

5.8

29, .

3.2

1.5

6.6

2.5

2.3

30

13, .

7.8

7.2

30, .

5.2

5.2

5.0

1.0

3.2

6.2

10.0

6.2

2.2

9.0

14, . .

11.4

10.8

31, .

2.5

10.5

-

10.4

2.4

2.8

13.1

7.3

Apr. 1, .

2.0

5.0

15, .

2.1

3.7

2.0

4.0

4.2

4.6

2.3

6.3

— 1.0

2.4

2, .

2.2

4.6

16, .

—1.9

0.5

2.1

2.6

—2.5

2.8

2.0

6.8

—1.8

—0.4

3, .

2.2

5.0

17, .

—0.6

0.8

2.4

4.0

—0.4

1.2

4, .

2.2

1.8

0.3

1.1

2.2

1.0

18, .

1.7

1.1

2.2

1.6

8.4

7.0

5, .

2.2

1.0

2.6

6.6

-

1.5

19, .

—1.1

4.0

-

0.9

3.4

5.8

6, .

-

1.0

0.5

1.3

-

15

20, .

1.9

1.0

-

2.7

2.0

1.0

7, .

14.0

4.7

2.0

0.8

9.8

3.7

21, .

1.9

1.2

11.1

5.0

2.0

1.0

8, .

16.1

4.4

1.7

1.0

16.4

40

22, .

7.5

0.9

9.3

5.1

3.0

-

9, .

3.0

1.3

3.0

-

3.9

2.0

23, .

0.9

-

1.8

0.9

1.2

-

10, .

1.0

0.3

1.2

-

4.1

2.0

24, .

8.0

-

—1.4

—0.7

6.0

-

11, . .

2.1

—0.5

2.0

—

286

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

TABLE — Showing the Temperature and amount of Cloudiness in Amherst

Snell, LL.D., of

MARCH, 1874.

Temperature.

Cloudiness.

Day of Month.

7 a.m.

2 P.M.

9 P.M.

Mean.-

7 A.M.

2 P.M. 9 P.M.

1

20.4

40.6

35.0

32.0

8

1

2,.

28.0

50.3

42.0

40.1

_

-

-

3, .

33.3

54.0

49.5

45.6

1

4

8

4, •

52.7

56.0

36.2

48.3

10

5

3

5, .

26.9

40.4

30.0

32.4

_

-

-

6, .

20.0

34.9

32.7

29.2

2

8

10

7, •

29.0

33.9

33.7

32.2

10

10

10

8,.

30.5

35.8

31.8

32.7

8

7

2

9, .

29.2

29.5

23.0

27.2

8

7

5

10, .

17.2

23.1

21.0

20.4

7

9

10

11, .

20.3

19.1

17.0

18.8

10

10

10

12, .

12.0

22.7 •

16.0

16.9

3

3

-

13, .

13.0

20.0

17.5

16.8

6

4

-

14,.

19.0

32.0

26.0

25.7

1

-

-

15,.

21.3

40.1

33.5

31.6

-

-

-

16,.

25.0

44.0

37.0

35.3

7

7

8

17,.

34.7

40.5

39.9

33.4

10

10

10

18, .

39.9

55.7

52.7

49.4

10

10

10

19,.

45.9

54.0

51.8

50.6

10

10

10

20, .

38.3

42.2

33.3

37.9

5

3

-

21, .

28.0

50.0

39.0

39.0

-

7

-

22, .

37.0

41.3

30.7

36.3

8

2

5

23,.

26.0

29.7

19.5

25.1

1

8

-

24, .

9.7

23.5

22.5

18.6

-

7

1

25, .

22.0

46.7

37.7

35.5

-

2

-

26, .

40.3

57.2

45.0

47.5

8

9

3

27, .

281

39.0

29.2

32.1

1

1

-

28, .

30.0

41.0

34.2

35.1

10

4

5

29, .

26.0

33.3

25.5

28.3

9

-

-

30, .

30.1

48.7

34.8

37.9

7

5

-

31, .

30.0

32.2

27.2

29.8

9

10

7

Mea

n>

• •

-

-

-

32.96

48 per cent, of sky.

APRIL,

L874.

1

18.7

34.0

31.3

28.0

10

2, •

28.0

44 8

33.7

38.8

10

1

-

3,.

33.7

42.0

35.0

36.9

9

3

4

4,.

28.3

31.0

18.5

25.9

10

8

- .

5, .

21.5

41.0

28.2

30.2

-

2

10

6, .

31.5

41.5

33.3

35.4

10

5

-

7, •

32.4

42.3

36.3

37.0

10

10

-

8,.

29.9

57.0

46.8

44.6

1

8

10

9,.

37.0

44.0

40.0

40.3

10

10

10

10,.

35.0

41.7

37.5

38. 1

10

7

10

11,.

34.0

45.2

31.0

36.7

-

9

-

12, .

21.0

30.0

24.7

25.2

-

-

-

13, .

23.3

42.3

33.5

36.4

-

_

-

14, .

35.0

63.0

53.0

50.3

-

5

-

15,.

•

51.2

61.0

54.0

55.4

9

9

-

16, .

38.0

49.8

42 0

43.3

8

2

3

17, .

37.0

33.7

31.5

34.1

10

10

10

18, .

31.0

48.3

36.5

38.6

-

5

-

19, .

35.3

61.0

48.0

48.1

10

-

2

20, .

40.0

38.7

36.5

38.4

10

10

10

21, .

38.0

49.0

38.0

41.7

10

5

9

22,.

37.5

51.0

39.0

42.5

5

2

5

23, .

37.6

39.0

34.0

36.9

10

10

10

24,.

35.0

51.2

41.3

42.5

1

7

5

25, .

37.2

34.7

32.0

34.6

10

10

10

26,.

32.8

43.2

36.5

37.5

10

8

5

27, .

39.0

48.0

35.0

40.7

5

1

-

28,.

36.0

45.5

35.0

38.8

1

10

10

29, . .

33.9

36-3

34.3

34.8

10

10

9

30, .

33.0

41.0

39.8

37.9

9

8

2

Mea

n>

-

-

-

38.32

56 pe

r cent, o

' sky.

METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS.

287

daring the months of March, April, May and June, 1874. By Prof. E. S.
Amherst College.

MAY, 1874.

Day of Month.

Temperature.

Cloudiness.

A.M.

2 p.m.

9 P.M.

Mean.

7 A.M.

2 P.M.

9 P.M.

1

39.5

46.0

43.0

42.8

1

8

9

2, .

44.0

43.0

36.5

41.2

8

9

_

3, .

43.8

57.0

46.5

49.1

_

_

_

4, .

40.9

63.5

51.0

51.8

3

9

5

5,.

46.0

58.9

48.3

51.1

7

8

2

6, .

43.0

59.0

47.0

49.7

_

8

10

7, .

39.0

49.3

37.0

41.8

_

8

_

8, .

41.0

58.0

45.0

48.0

7

7

9, .

44.5

68.6

€2.5

58.5

8

5

_

10,.

71.0

85.0

54.8

70.3

5

_

2

11..

49.8

60.8

44.2

51.6

9

2

_

12, .

44.0

66.0

50.0

53.3

_

_

_

13, .

50.2

80.5

63.0

64.6

2

2

_

14,.

62.0

78.5

60.0

66.8

1

1

_

15, .

54.0

74.0

56.0

61.3

_

1

3

16,.

50.2

53.0

51.5

51.6

10

10

10

17, .

52.8

68.0

55.0

58.6

7

_

1

18, .

52.4

58.0

54.0

54.8

8

10

10

19, .

51.5

61.1

49.0

53.9

5

3

_

20,.

48.3

64.0

56.5

56.3

3

9

10

21, .

51.5

57.1

49.5

52.7

10

10

10

22, .

48.0

57.0

49.0

51.3

8

8

6

23,.

50.0

66.8

56.0

57.6

_

8

1

24, .

57.2

71.7

59.5

62.8

7

8

9

25, .

57.3

59.8

60.3

59.1

10

10

9

26, .

62.0

61.0

50.2

57.7

2

9

_

27, .

53.8

72.0

60.5

62.1

1

3

1

28, .

58.2

80.0

64 0

67.4

_

_

29,.

62.0

86.0

67.0

71.7

_

1

6

30, .

62.2

82.6

69.0

71.3

2

1

7

31,.

63.0

82.8

68.3

71.4

10

7

10

Mean,

-

-

-

56.52

45 pe

• cent, of

sky.

JUNE, 1874.

1,

62.5

66.8

55.0

61.4

6

8

9

2

51.3

65.0

55.5

57.3

_

1

3, .

54.5

68.3

55.0

59.3

8

5

10

4, .

57.3

66.7

64.5

62.8

10

10

9

5, .

62.2

71.0

60.8

64.7

10

10

10

6, .

67.0

75.5

68.0

70.2

10

10

1

7, •

67.0

77.5

71.8

72.1

10

9

10

8,.

71.0

78.0

66.2

71.7

s.

3

3

9, .

63.8

81.0

66.5

70.4

7

3

10, .

69.0

77.0

62.0

69.4

7

1

11,.

57.0

62.0

56.0

58.3

8

10

10

12. .

56.5

68.0

64.0

62.8

10

9

8

13, .

56.0

61.0

53.5

56.8

7

14,.

55.5

72.9

61.0

63.1

7

15, .

59.0

77.5

64.5

67*0

1

5

1

16, .

65.0

74.0

65.0

68.0

6

7

10

17, .

64.5

71.7

63.2

66.5

10

10

8

18,.

64.7

71.8

63.7

66.7

10

8

7

19, .

62.9

69.0

54.0

62.0

2

8

10

20, .

54.2

65.2

59.5

59.6

8

9

9

21,.

58.5

75.0

66.8

66.8

10

6 -

8

22,.

60.0

82.3

71.5

71.3

5

3

5

23, .

70.0

85.0

71.0

75.3

4

8

5

24,.

66.4

72.1

62.0

66.8

1

_

5

25, .

61.0

75.5

67.0

67.8

5

4

8

26, .

64.0

70.0

60.1

64.7

10

9

10

27, .

63.0

77.2

68.7

69.6

10

1

28, .

64.5

87.0

76.0

75.8

_

1

29,.

73.3

93.0

71.0

79.1

7

2

9

30, .

68.2

76.5

60.0

68.2

2

5

-

-

66.18

58 pe

• cent, of

sky.

288

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

TABLE

Showing the Percentage of Water in the wood and bark of the
branches and roots of certain species of trees at different seasons of
the year.

Species.

Description.

Percentagh

of Water.

GENUS.

Feb.

April.

Sept.

Dec.

Abies

Canadensis, .

One year, .

48.66

Two year, .

49.62

-

-

-

Root, .

-

55.96

-

-

Dead twig,2 .

18.76

-

-

-

Abies

excelsa, .

One year, .

4550

-

-

-

Two year, .

44.28

-

-

-

Dead,2 .

17.03

-

-

-

Acer

rubrum,

One year, .

44.88

-

-

-

Two year, .

44.71

-

-

-

Acer

saccharinuin,

One year, .

46.50

-

48.10

47.36

Two year, .

47.13

-

44.05

47.00

Sap-wood, .

-

-

-

41.23

Heart-wood,

-

-

-

40.12

Dead, .

18.85

-

-

-

Root, .

-

41.44

44.05

-

JEsculus .

Hippocastanum, .

One year, .

49.14

-

59.68

-

Two year, .

46.08

-

59.05

-

Ailantus .

glandulosa, .

One year, .

48.56

-

-

-

Two year, .

46.00

-

-

-

Alnus

incana, .

One year, .

50.47

-

-

-

Two year, .

51.45

-

-

-

Betula

alba v. populifolia,

One year, .

46.24

54.97

53.90

-

Two year, .

42.00

55.64

48.52

-

Root, .

-

-

42.63

-

Dead, .

15.13

-

-

-

Betnla

lenta,

One year, .

38.25

-

-

41.80

Two year, .

40.54

-

-

40.73

Root, .

-

-

49.61

-

Dead, .

13.65

-

-

-

Carpinus .

Americana, .

One year, .

38.70

-

57.68

-

Two year, .

39.41

-

48.69

-

Dead, .

13.84

-

-

-

Carya

amara, .

One year, .

-

-

-

33.26

Two year, .

-

-

-

31.23

Root, .

-

54.32

-

-

Fagus

ferruginea, .

One year, .

44.42

-

-

-

Two year, .

44.69

—

—

—

Juglans .

cinerea, .

One year, .

45.51

-

54.22

-

Two year, .

46.73

-

51.41

-

Nyssa

multiflora,

One year, .

50.95

-

51.14

-

Two year, .

48.93

-

50.93

-

Pinus . .

Strobus,

One year, .

-

56.31

62.90

-

Two year, .

-

55.52

58.34

-

Dead',2 .

11.90

-

-

-

Root, .

-

-

67.65

-

Platanus .

occidentalis, .

One year, .

54.46

52.55

-

-

Two year, .

51.44

53.79

-

-

Populus .

tremuloides, .

One year, .

49 77

-

53 30

-

Two year, .

50.86

-

51.00

-

Pnmus

Persica, .

One year, .

46.13

-

-

-

Two year, .

40.39

—

WATER IN TREES.

289

Percentage of Water in Trees — Continued.

Species.

Description.

Percentage

of Water.

GENUS.

Feb.

April.

Sept.

Dec.

Prunus .

serotina,

One year, .

_

_

50.00

_

Two year, .

-

-

50.34

-

Dead, .

17.37

-

-

-

Pyrus

communis,

One year, .

49.85

55.39

54.05

-

Two year, .

47.70

54.03

51.48

-

Root, .

-

-

60.39

-

Pyrus

Malus, .

One year, .

49.49

48.98

56.18

-

Two year, .

44.75

46.76

54.49

-

Root, .

-

64.82

54.78

-

Dead, .

12.88

-

-

-

Quercus .

alba,

One year, .

38.01

41.24

43.06

-

Two year, .

35.23

36.74

39.51

-

Root, .

-

53.07

51.28

-

Dead, .

15.47

-

-

-

Salix

alba,

One year, .

49.88

-

53.07

-

Two year, .

51.65

-

49.73

-

Root, .

-

-

68.38

-

Tilia

Americana, .

One year, .

55.10

-

48.62

-

Two year, .

53.93

-

55.97

-

Ulmus

Americana, .

One year, .

41.37

-

57.14

-

Two year, .

39.77

-

52.31

-

Root, .

-

45.26

43.19

-

Dead, .

13.4(5

-

-

-

Vitis

aestivalis,

One year, .

41.86

43.77

-

-

Two year, .

41.08

43.66

-

-

Root, .

—

55.11

-

~

37

290

BOAED OF AGRICULTURE.

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GAS FROM SAP. 291

Remarks.

Specimen No. 2 was the colorless, translucent gum which exudes
freely from the wood of the root and stem of the grape vine, at any time
during the long period of nearly eight months, when the vital force is
dormant. It was entirely free from grape sugar, cane sugar, or starch.
When treated with water, it swelled up aud appeared to be partly solu-
ble and partly not. The large amount of ash contained an abundance of
lime.

Specimen No. 5 was sap from a red maple which had been girdled
about two years previous. No. 6 was sap from a red maple, in a nor-
mal condition, which stood not far from No. 5. It was placed in the
list in order that it might be compared with No. 5.

Specimen No. 8 was a very small quantity of sap from an apple tree.
When brought in, it very much resembled cider in color. It had an un-
pleasant, sour taste.

Specimen No. 13 was sap from an ironwood. Though somewhat tur-
bid, this sap contained no solid particles which could be separated by
filtration. About two quarts of the sap which flowed on the day of May
7th, and the same amount which flowed during the following night,
were collected and allowed to stand in the laboratory for some months.
They became milky in a very short time, and fermented quite rapidly,
emitting a very offensive odor. There was no difference between the
two in this respect, so far as could be determined by their external
appearance.

On the seventh of May, the sweet exudation from the hickory was
tested for cane sugar. By means of alcohol it was removed to a glass
plate, and when dry was examined under the microscope ; it was also
treated with Fehling's copper solution ; but neither test showed a trace
of cane sugar. Grape sugar was indicated to be present in abundance.

Gas from Saj) of Acer saccharinum.
On the twenty-seventh of April, two and a half quarts of the first run of
sap from a sugar maple was collected for examination in regard to the
composition of the gas contained in it. By boiling, gas was obtained
from this sap which measured 31.2 cubic centimetres at 18° C. By intro-
ducing a certain amount of potassium hydrate, the volume was reduced
to 29.5 cubic centimetres at 18° O, owing to the absorption of carbonic
acid by the potassium hydrate. By inserting a certain amount of gallic
acid, the volume was again reduced to 22.5 cubic centimetres at 18° C,
due to the absorption of oxygen, thus leaving 22.5 cubic centimetres of
nitrogen.

Composition by Volume.

Gas from Sugar Maple. Atmospheric Air.

Nitrogen 72.213 79.02

Oxygen, 22.435 20.94

Carbonic acid, 5.352 0.04

100.000 100.00

292 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Large quantities of sap from specimens of Vitis aestivalis, Acer sacchar-
inum, Acer rubrum, Juglana nigra, Ostrya Virginica, and Betula
lutea, have been evaporated preparatory to making analyses of their min-
eral constituents. This work has not yet been accomplished, for lack of
time.

Explanation of Figures.

Fig. 1 represents two nodes of the squash vine.

A is the petiole of a leaf showing vertical striae.

B, a staminate flower on a long peduncle.

C, a branching tendril exhibiting the mode of attachment to

a support, and the double reversed spiral of the portion
between the support and the base of the tendril, by which
all the branches of a tendril are made to bear their share
of the strain, if they secure an attachment ; and by which
also great elasticity is given to the tendril, and the liabil-
ity of rupture largely diminished.

D, nodal roots.

E, a pistillate flower with a short peduncle.

F, a lateral bi'anch of the vine.

G, a tendril which, having failed in finding a suppoi't, has

coiled upon itself and turned back towards the older por-
tion of the vine.
Fig. 2 illustrates the structure of the tip of a squash rootlet, the cells of
the epidermis being often produced into root-hairs consisting
of single elongated.cells, which increase immensely the absorb-
ing surface.
Fig. 3 shows a transverse section of a rootlet.

A, epidermis with root-hairs.

B, ordinary cellular tissue.

C, a fibro-vascular bundle.

D, loose parenchyma of the central portion of the rootlet.
Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section of rootlet.

A, epidermis with root-hairs.

B, cellular tissue.

C, a dotted duct.

Fig. 5 illustrates the structure of cork or periderm from a squash. The
cells are large, thin-walled, dry and brown. They are
developed in a radial manner from any highly vitalized cel-
lular tissue, when it is exposed to the air. Every place upon
the soft parts of a growing plant which is wounded soon
covers itself with this protecting layer of cork.

Fig. 6 is a transverse section of a squash vine.

A, the irregular internal cavity.

B, fibro-vascular bundles.

C, the outer green layer of the bark,

STRUCTURE OF SQUASH. 293

Fig. 7 is a transverse section of the petiole of a leaf.

A, internal cavity.

B, fibro-vascular bundles.

C, vertical dark green striaj between the bundles, consisting of

parenchyma containing chlorophyl.
Fig. 8 exhibits a transverse section of the branch of a tendril.

A, the inner sensitive surface of loose cellular tissue, which

contracts and expands as the branch coils and uncoils.

B, bast fibre or elongated fusiform cells.

C, fibro-vascular bundles.

Fig. 9 represents the andrcecium of the staminate flower with connected
sinuous anther cells, which are open and discharging pollen
grains.
Fig. 10 is a pollen grain ol spherical form and covered with projecting
spines.

A is the opening in the outer membi-ane through which the
tube develops after its lodgment on the stigmatic surface
of the pistil.
Fig. 11 shows the gynsecium of the pistillate flower.

A, ovary.

B, style.

C, stigma.

Fig. 12 is a vertical section of the pistil.

A, the receptacle, or stem.

B, the wall of the ovary, the fibres of which are arranged in

three distinct layers. The outer and inner ones have the
fibres extending from the base to the apex of the ovary,
or young squash, while the central one consists of fibres
running around the ovary at right angles to the other
two.

C, ovules imbedded in loose cellular tissue.

D, canal of the style through which the pollen tubes find their

way to the ovules.
Fig. 13 represents a transverse section of the ovary, showing the three

layers of the tissues of the wall and the cells of the ovary with

ovules attached to the inner edges of the carpellary leaves.
Fig. 14 exhibits the propagating pit with the squash in harness, and the

squash root of a second vine attached to a mercurial gauge to

show the pressure of the sap.

A, the box in which the squash was placed.

B, the lever to support the weights.

C, the root from which the principal vine grew.

D, the root of the vine which was cut off when eight weeks

old, and connected with a gauge.

E, mercurial gauge.

F, scale to indicate the variations in the position of the level*.
Fig. 15 gives a view of the apex and lower side of the squash, after it

had completed its growth, and been taken from the box in
which it had been confined.

294 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Fig. 16 shows the top of the squash, with the marks of the harness irons
upon it.

Fig. 17 represents a piece of the root of an apple tree which penetrated
a bed of coarse, dry gravel, to the depth of more than eight
feet, and as it enlarged adapted itself to the spaces between
the pebbles, and in some cases entirely inclosed them.

Fig. 18 illustrates the manner in which the roots of a black spruce grew
on Moose Mountain, in New Hampshire. The soil was only
a few inches deep, and below was solid rock, so that as the
horizontal roots increased in diameter, they lifted themselves
out of the ground, and of course raised the entire tree every
year.

Fig. 19 shows how the heart of a yellow birch, growing on a.ledge in
Hanover, N. H., has been carried upward and outward by the
annual deposition of wood, from the rock on which it must
have rested when the seed germinated. The peculiar thick-
ening of the trunk and roots near the base is often seen in
trees on exposed situations.

Fig. 20 is a section of the stem of a tree (Hibiscus splendens) about four
inches in circumference, from which all the bark and most of
the wood was removed. A portion of the outer layer of sap-
wood, one inch long and seven-sixteenths of an inch in circum-
ference, was left to convey the sap to the foliage, which had a
surface of twenty-five hundred square inches. Not a leaf
wilted, but the supply of water was abundant for the growing
tree.

Fig. 21 exhibits a section of a similar stem from a portion of which
the wood was entirely removed, while the greater part of
the thick, succulent bark remained. The foliage had a surface
of five hundred square inches, while the amount of living bark
which formed the connection between it and the roots was at
least five times as large as the piece of sap-wood in the pre-
ceding figure. The leaves wilted as quickly and completely
as if the stem had been entirely severed.

Fig. 22 is a piece of wood from a red maple, which threw out a callous
from its ends like a gi-ape cutting, and grew, although it had
neither roots nor buds.

Fig. 23 shows a section of an elm root which was girdled, inclosed in a
glass tube so as to exclude the air, and then replanted in the
earth, its connection with the tree remaining intact. A new
bark and layer of wood formed from the cambium which had
been previously deposited.

Fig. 2-4 exhibits a section of the trunk of a small elm, upon the bark of
which a horizontal incision was made, and above this four
vertical incisions three inches long. The four quarters of the
bark were then turned up, and a piece of tinned copper, one
inch wide, was wrapped around the wood. The bark was
then replaced, covered with waxed cloth, and securely fas-
tened down. This was done on the thirtieth of May.

WOOD AND BARK. 295

Fig. 25 shows the section as arranged for the experiment of determining
whether the new layer of wood would be developed from the
old wood or from the bark.

Fig. 26 represents the appearance of the new wood (b) which was deposited
upon the metal, (a) after the removal of the bark in September.

Fig. 27 gives the microscopic structure of a horizontal section of the
elm wood and bark directly over the metal. Next to the tin
was a thin layer of parenchyma, (a) connected to the inner layer
of bark by medullary rays, (c) which were as numerous as in
the other parts of the new wood, and passed directly from the
bark to the metal, whether examined in a horizontal or verti-
cal section. The cork cells, (f) bast (d) and parenchyma (e)
of the bark, and the woody fibre, (b) ducts (g) and medullary
rays of the stem, are clearly visible in this section.

Fig. 28 is a view of the longitudinal section of the branch of an apple
tree which was girdled in May, 1870. After growing four
years and bearing fruit, it was cut in 1874. There were then
many dead twigs upon it, and it was evidently in declining
health. The section shows how the sap-wood was becoming
dry, and changing into heart wood, so that the channel for
the transmission of the sap from the roots to the leaves was
almost closed. The girdling was complete, so that the elabo-
rated sap from the leaves could not descend below it.
A is the top of the nearly horizontal branch.

Fig. 29 shows how a branch of a wild grape vine, after being girdled,
formed new wood from both above and below, and thus made
a new passage for the downward flow of the sap. The wood
developed from beneath the girdle was formed from sap
elaborated in other branches.

Fig. 30 is a section of the stem of a young bass tree, which shows that
when there is no foliage below a place girdled early in the
season, there can be no deposition of new wood, while it may
be as abundant as usual above the girdle.

Fig. 31 represents a section of a stem of a young red maple, girdled June
twenty-third, which is enlarged above the girdle, but not below.

Fig. 32 exhibits a similar section, girdled July twenty-first, upon which
was produced a new growth of both wood and bark, which
resulted from the fact that the cambium layer was so far
organized by midsummer as to furnish a conducting medium
for the elaborated sap.

Fig. 33 shows the microscopic structure of the ordinary bark of a young
red maple.

A, periderm or cork.

B, primary parenchyma.

C, secondary parenchyma.

D, bast fibres.

E, woody fibre of trunk.

F, vessels or ducts in wood.

G, medullary rays connecting bark and wood.
H, recent parenchyma of inner bark.

296 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Fig. 34 represents the same elements of the new bark formed on
the place girdled, July twenty-first, the periderm being
of a reddish brown color.
Fig. 35 is a view of the section of a weeping willow tree, to illustrate
the mode of growth in trees from which the bark has been
loosened by freezing.

A is sap-wood formed on the inside of the bark and discon-
nected from the wood of the trunk.
B is new wood and periderm formed on the old wood, to
which a portion of the cambium cells remained attached
when the old bark was torn off by the frost.
C, roots developed from the uninjured stem under the old
disrupted bark, and extending to the earth, a distance
of more than fifteen inches.
Fig. 36 exhibits a specimen of a pendant weeping willow branch, which
was girdled in June last. The growth was on the lower side
of the girdled place, showing that the flow of the elaborated
sap is not necessarily downward, but root-ward.
Fig. 37 is a view of a pistillate plant of mistletoe, with evergreen
coriaceous leaves and white berries, growing on the limb of
an oak.

A represents the parasitic roots of the mistletoe in the sap-
wood of the oak. As the oak was dead beyond the large
cluster of the parasite, it seems that it was injured by the
loss of its sap.
Fig. 38 illustrates the natural grafting of two trunks of white pine.

A is the smaller trunk, a branch of which is seen to grow
through the wood of the larger one. The union of wood
is perfect, and the elaborated sap from B has flowed
so freely over the connecting branch, "that A is larger
below, and B larger above the place of junction.
C is the knot in the heart of B, formed of the base of the limb,
in the axil of which D, the connecting branch, became
fastened in the beginning of the operation,
Fig 39 shows the grafted roots of a white pine stump, the points of

union being very numerous.
Fig. 40 exhibits a section of a small white birch tree, one of whose
branches has become grafted to it in consequence of being
caught in the axil of a branch above.
Fig. 41 represents a section of the trunk of a small aspen, around which
a vine of bitter-sweet has twined so closely as to prevent the
root-ward flow of elaborated sap. The growth therefore
follows the bitter-sweet in a spiral direction.
Fig. 42 shows a longitudinal section of the preceding specimen. The
wood is seen to have formed from above so as to cover the
vine, while immediately below it there has been no growth
whatever.
Fig 43 exhibits the dead wood of an apple tree limb, which was depos-
ited so that the fibres run in a spiral direction.

EXPLANATION OF FIGURES. 297

Fig. 44 represents the variations of pressure, as indicated by the mercurial
gauges, on the twenty-first of April, 1873, observations having
been taken every hour, from twelve a. m., to twelve p. M.
Every vertical line marks an hour, and every horizontal line
an inch on the column of mercury. Zero represents the point
where there is neither pressure outward from the tree, nor
suction inward.

The line A shows the record of the sugar maple, which at
midnight exhibited a suction equal to -6 inches, and at 7 a.m.
had increased this to -22.9 inches. As soon as the sun
warmed the tree, the mercury began to rise and at 9.15 A. M.,
had reached 16.3 inches. Then it declined very gradually till
at 12 P. M. it was at -3 inches. The temperature at 7 A. M. was
37° F. ; at 2 P. M. was 50.1° F. ; and at 9 p. m. it was 39.5° F.

The line C marks the fluctuations of the mercury in the
lower gauge of the black birch, which was at the level of the
ground, and the line B shows the pressure in the upper gauge,
which was placed 30.2 feet above the lower one. The remark-
able fall, indicated as occui-ring at 12.45 P. M., was caused by
» boring into the tree near the ground for the purpose of deter-
mining whether the tree was acting simply as a cylinder of
water filled by a force from beneath, as seemed evident from
the correspondence between the two gauges. The reduction
and l-estoration of pressure from simply opening and closing
the orifice were so rapid and extraordinai'y as to lead to the
conclusion that the force operating to produce the pressure
was simply the absorbent power of the roots, and this led to
the application of a gauge directly to a root, with the sur-
prising result described on page 253.

The proportion borne by the cuts to the natural size of the object
represented is expressed by a fraction under the figure. Thus, in figure
one, the fraction £ indicates one-sixth the natural size, while in figure
three, the fraction $£■ indicates that the object is magnified fifty times.
38

298

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

ILLUSTRATIONS.

299

Fig. 2, p. 210.

Fig. 3, p. 210.

300

BOAKD OF AGKICULTURE.

n

Fig. 4, p. 210.

20 Q.

Fig. 5, p. 221.

Fig. 6. p. 217.

ILLUSTRATIONS.

301

Fig. 7, p. 213.

Fig. 8, p. 210.

Fig. U, > . 2 IS.

302

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Fig. 10, p. 218.

Fig. 11, p. 218.
I

B

Fig. 13, p. 218.

ILLUSTRATIONS.

303

304

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Fig. 15, p. 221.

Fig. 16, p. 221.

i

ILLUSTRATIONS.

305

Fig. 18, p. 223.

Tig. I'J. p. 223.

306

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Fig. 20, p. 231.

Fig. 21, p. 231.

mm

.':?.' -.:\l.'

Fig. 23, p. 233.

1

Fig. 22, p. 233.

ILLUSTRATIONS.

307

Fig. 24, p. 234. Fig. 25, p. 234. Fig. 26, p. 234.

ill

Fig. 27. p. 234.

5_Q

308

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

A

Fig. 29, p. 238.

Fig. 30, p. 238.

Fig. 31, p. 238.

Fig. 32, p. 238.

Wm

m

Fig. 33, p. 238.

A-

B.

-Fiflr. 34, p. «3«,

ILLUSTRATIONS.

309

Fig. 36, p. 241.

Bva

p

Fig. 35, p. 339.

Fig. 39, p. 243.

310

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Fig. 37, p. 242.
1

ILLUSTRATIONS.

311

FUj. 38, p. 243.

X

A

Fir/. 41. p. 243.

t'iy 43, p. '.'44.

312

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

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CATTLE COMMISSIONERS' REPORT. 313

CATTLE COMMISSIONERS' REPORT.

To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Common-
wealth of Massachusetts :

The Commissioners on Contagious Diseases among Cattle
can report, that during the year the interest of the State
in stock husbandly has been prospered by good returns
for its products, and the exemption of its cattle from any
wide-spread contagious or epidemic disease. Our sister
State of Connecticut, to which the importation of cattle is
from the same source as our own, has not been so fortunate,
and has experienced considerable loss by an outbreak of
Spanish fever, and of contagious pleuro-pneumonia. In the
month of September, much alarm was caused in several Con-
necticut towns by the appearence of the first-mentioned dis-
ease, which it was proved was communicated by cattle pur-
chased in the cattle-yards at West Albany. About the same
time complaint was made to us that the disease existed in
West Springfield, Pittsfield and Grafton, in this State, also
caused by Western cattle purchased at the same place. In
consideration of these facts, the Commissioners deemed it
wise to visit Albany, and ascertain whether Spanish fever
prevailed there to any great extent, or along the line of trans-
port of Western cattle, with the intention of interdicting
their transfer to this State if such was found to be the fact.
This was done by two of the Commissioners, on the 11th of
September, in company with Dr. Cressy, Veterinary Professor
of the Massachusetts Agricultural College, who was employed
by the commissioners of Connecticut for that purpose. A
searching examination satisfied us that the disease did not
exist there, or in the country adjacent to the usual routes of
transportation. But we ascertained that the laws of the
Western Border States, which forbid the driving of cattle
into their territory from Texas or the plains, during the warm
season, were being evaded ; and that cattle had been driven
direct from Texas, and shipped at points west of Kansas, and
transported thence to our Eastern markets, stopping on the
line only at feeding-places, as The law requires, until they
reached Albany. We found that some of these Texan cattle

40

314 BOAED OF AGRICULTURE.

and other Western stock, which had contracted the disease by
being brought in contact with them, had been purchased and
sent to this State, and many had been driven to Connecticut.
So far as we could learn at that date, few, if any, Texas cattle
were then on the route to our markets. The season was far
advanced, and whatever of the disease existed in the State
would be destroyed by the autumn frosts. And, desiring to
avoid disturbing our cattle-markets until self-protection
should make it imperative, no orders were issued to prevent
the transport of cattle to the State, but arrangements were
perfected which would enable us to do it speedily, if after-
developments should make it a necessity, which, happily,
proved not to be required.

But twenty-four animals died of the disease in this State,
and most of this loss occurred in West Springfield. The
disease, in that town, originated from Texas cattle brought
there by D. H. Baldwin, a butcher, who had no knowledge of
their dangerous character. Seven of his herd died between
the 15th of August and the 10th of September. Baldwin's
cattle came in contact with several herds or animals of the
native stock of the town, who contracted the disease ; and
between the 16th of September and the 9th of October, eleven
head died ; but there was no appearance of the disease in
that locality after that date. Early in October, six head of
cattle died of the disease, which were owned by E. Smith, a
drover of Hadley, and bought by him in Buffalo. The
reported case in Grafton, where several animals died, did
not prove unmistakably to be Spanish fever. One of our
Board visited the place, but could not positively ascertain
that Texan cattle had been brought into the town ; and, as
the dead animals had been buried, there was no opportunity
to examine them ; but the symptoms and manner of death
strikingly corresponded with this disease. The peculiar
characteristics of this disease (called Spanish Fever, or Texas
Cattle Plague) have been fully described by us in a former
report, but we desire to call attention to one or two of them.
The disease is communicated to our native stock by apparently
perfectly healthy Texas cattle, which come to us direct from
that State, or which have not passed one winter in our
northern climate. If these cattle have upon them the "Texas

ANNUAL MEETING. 315

tick," it may be taken as positive proof that they have not
been wintered here. If our native cattle which have con-
tracted the disease of Texans, come in contact with other
natives, they will not communicate the disease to them.
Therefore it spreads or is contagious only between Texans
and our home cattle. The fact which has been disclosed the
present year, of the evasion of the laws of the Western States
by stock-drovers, in using our recently constructed railroads
to the far West, to pass those States unchallenged, should put
all our stock-buyers on their guard, and deter them from
purchasing such cattle during the summer months.

The legislature of 1873 made an appropriation of five hun-
dred dollars, to be used by the Commission if found necessary
in the discharge of the duties of their office. There was no
occasion for the expenditure of any part of this appropriation
during that year. The present year we have expended one
hundred and thirty-two dollars ($132), and there now remains
an unexpended balance of three hundred and sixty-eight dol-
lars ($368). In accordance with the law, this sum must soon
revert to the general treasury, and the Commissioners will be
powerless to act should there be an outbreak of contagious
disease dangerous to the property and health of our people.
We would therefore recommend an appropriation similar in
amount to that of 1873, as a safeguard against such an
emergency.

Levi Stockbridge,
E. F. Thayer,
Commissioners on Contagious Diseases among Cattle.

ANNUAL MEETING OF THE BOARD.

The Board met at the office of the Secretary, in Boston, on
Tuesday, February 2, at twelve o'clock, His Excellency
Governor Gaston in the chair.

Present : Messrs. Baker, Clark, Cole, Davis, D wight,
Goessmanu, Graves, Hadwen, Hyde, Knox, Leavitt, McEl-
wain, Moore, Phinney, Sanderson, Sessions, Slade, Stone,
Sturtevant, Vincent, Wakefield, L. P. Warner, W. L. Warner
and Wilder.

316 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

A committee of three was appointed to report upon the
order of business, consisting of Messrs. Wilder, Moore and
Phinney.

That committee subsequently reported as follows :

1. Reports of Delegates.

2. Reports of the Committee on Agricultural College.

3. Reports on Subjects assigned on Essays.

4. Reports on Committees appointed last year.

5. Miscellaneous Business.

6. Appointment of Delegates.

The sessions to commence at ten o'clock each day.

The Committee on selection of subjects for Essays and on
the annual country meeting to be appointed on Wednesday
morning.

(Signed) Makshall P. Wildek.

John B. Moore.
S. B. Phinney.

Mr. Leavitt reported upon the Essex society ; President
Chadbourne (read by the Secretary) upon the Middlesex ;
Col. Wilder upon the Worcester West ; Col. Stone upon the
Worcester, the Worcester South-east, the Hampshire ; Mr.
McElwain upon the Worcester North-west ; Mr. Slade upon
the Union ; Mr. Phinney upon the Franklin ; Mr. Wakefield
upon the Deerfield Valley ; Mr. Graves upon the Housatouic ;
Mr. L. P. Warner upon the Hoosac Valley ; Mr. Hawes
(read by the Secretary) upon the Norfolk ; Mr. Sanderson
upon the Bristol Central ; Mr. Vincent upon the Plymouth ;
Mr. W. L. Warner upon the Marshfield ; Mr. Had wen upon
the Nantucket ; Mr. Sturtevant upon the Martha's Vineyard ;
Mr. Knox upon the Highland ; Mr. Goodale upon the Hamp-
den East ; Mr. Sessions upon the Berkshire ; and Mr.
Clark upon the Hingham.

Mr. Sturtevant, on behalf of the Examining Committee,
submitted the following

THE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. 317

REPORT ON THE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE.

Having regard to the fact that the endowment of our Agri-
cultural College does not furnish an income sufficient to make
it entirely independent of state aid, we propose to notice
several of the considerations that gave rise to the College and
that now justify its existence.

The ideal commonwealth is not merely a peopled area of
hill, valley and stream. It is much besides this, and is nearest
realized when there is with the fair earth union of strength
and the useful, of culture and virtue with free sports, and
the wealth within the States is promotive of the common good
or happiness. In Massachusetts, our idea is, that each man
made rich in goods, in capacity through the enjoyment of
opportunities that ripen capacity, adds to the common wealth.
If, then, there are found within our borders those who have
not their natures made as good as may be, and are thus unable
to contribute what is due, the resources of the State are to
this extent unimproved, and there is a call upon statesmanship
to seek out the means of economizing the raw material.

Says Emerson, "Man was born to be rich"; and we are
bound to see to it, for his good and the good of all that stand
about him, that he have his birthright, in so far as this may
be met by provision for schools, whereby his nature may be
set free from the thraldom of ignorance and sent forth upon its
mission. Not only is an untaught mind — raw material —
unproductive, but often the rawness harbors an energy for
evil work. When evil, in its worst expression, is absent,
there is weakness, which rests as a burden upon the more
useful citizens. It is not, then, philanthropy alone, but states-
manship and philanthropy as one, that bid the opening of
roads and making them easy to a liberal culture to all classes,
in a line appropriate to their several occupations.

So much is every man's highest good supported on that of
his neighbors, that it must readily be perceived that nothing
done for a particular class in the community is done for the
benefit of that class alone. When the State endows an Agri-
cultural College, it does so for its own good, and the farmer
has but a larger share of advantage that accrues to all classes,

318 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

for which he provides food or clothing. A weak agriculture
saps somewhat of strength from all desirable interests. The
upholders of the College believe that the agricultural interest
in the State is weaker to-day than, in the nature of things, it
need be.

The changes consequent upon the activities of a period to
which the telegraph, steam and machinery are common and
familiar in the experience of the people, have altered the rela-
tions formerly preserved between classes of citizens as divided
by occupation. Whether the standard for comparison is
intellectual, physical or financial, the several classes will not
be found to have moved forward equally. In these' days
there is more division of labor and a longer list of industries.
Special knowledge is in demand, and education, to a good
degree, is common with persons of very different occupations,
while respectability and social weight do not so much exist
to raise the dignity of some orders of people to the dispar-
agement of others. Arts, in many instances, are become
sciences. Between the professional classes, so called, and the
farmer there are large and increasing numbers, well educated
and influential. While the farmer looks out upon a multitude
of such, he, in his own field, is oppressed by problems more
serious, and requiring a more trained mind to solve, than were
present to the generation which cut off the forest and planted
in virgin soil.

The supporters of the Agricultural College hold that requi-
sites to greater success in agricultural production, that requi-
sites to success in preserving the influence of farmers in
governmental and social affairs that is due to their numbers
and the importance of their labor, will be supplied in large
part by extending to them an education beyond what is com-
monly afforded at the district school, and one altogether
appropriate to their occupation.

There is alwaj^s excuse for the founding of an institution
when it has distinct and useful ends in view, not to be secured
from existing institutions. While older ones are employed in
such work as is useful and acceptable, a new school, having
widely different aims and drawing its material from an unhar-
vested field, must be he'd as rather enlarging the domain of
culture, than as maintaining a relation of rivalry toward dis-

PROGRESS OF THE COLLEGE. 319

similar institutions. Hence it may deserve the friendliness of
all persons, whatsoever may be their particular personal
attachments, who are truly in love with culture as a universal
good.

The newness of the design — the idea of an Agricultural
College being extremely modern — occasions delay in attaining
onr ideal school. It is now near twelve years since the gen-
eral court accepted the Act of congress making provision for
agricultural and industrial education.

It inspires us with confidence in the future, when we regard
the noble men who gathered at the planting of the little acorn
— named the Massachusetts Agricultural College — and who
watched in faith the seed would not die in the soil, and who
from time to time have cared for the tender plantling, — some
providing it nourishment by appeals to the representatives of
the people, others giving both time and money as though it
was expected to bear fruit for them. It is no longer small.
Four fruit-crops have been gathered and each autumn wit-
nesses another crop. If the fruit is good, and the com-
munity is to judge of this, then nourishment shall come from
its fruitage.

But dismissing metaphor, we can say we think the College
is acquiring each year a firmer hold upon the good-will of our
community ; that the institution is already exerting a whole-
some and considerable influence, aside from its daily influence
upon the young men who wait upon its teaching. The signs
of this are found in our agricultural press ; in our board
reports ; in a tendency to closer reasoning of writers and
speakers upon rural topics, and in increasing appreciation of
audiences of scientific method.

If we are to witness for some time to come, on the part of
the College, somewhat of unrest and of effort, we may know
it is not a mere struggle to continue as it is, so much as it is
a struggle to be greater than it is. It springs, in large part,
of the desire to enjoy the unfolding of the agricultural educa-
tional idea to the utmost realization of the fullness and prog-
ress it signifies to any person.

The past year, in our view, has witnessed a growth and
development equal, at least, to any like period of the college
history. During the earlier years events quickly succeeded

320 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

events; the deduction of experience was rapidly applied.
The progress making towards a state of strong, regular,
systematized action, facilitated by each mistake in the past, is
very perceptible. The nearer, however, this condition is
attained, the closer one has to look to observe progress. It
might appear to some that the College has already settled into
channels of well-defined, systematized activity, quite satisfac-
tory, since it has already begun to wear the aspect of older
institutions.

While there have been no radical changes introduced the
past year, some new features have been added, and a forward
movement is observed along the line of college studies.

One of your Committee, at least, has long been in sympathy
with the aims of" the College, and having for some time
followed its fortunes with ever-awakening interest, he is little
inclined to confine himself to suggestions that come of a brief
period of official relation to it ; and he will remark, further,
that he has studied with larger interest the outlines of the
scheme, and the spirit that directs the several parts, than
details that may readily be altered, as experience shall deter-
mine, and as do not involve change of men, or are not of a
fundamental character.

Recent annual reports have entered into, with somewhat of
minuteness and much ability, the workings of the College. It
is not deemed desirable to repeat here what may be expected
to appear in the annual report of the College presented to the
general court. There has been about the same quantity and
quality of material to be wrought upon and made into intelli-
gent men, and there has been no change of instructors.

Perhaps we shall record a deepening insight on their
part, as to the superiority and fitness of methods, that
rely more upon cultivating in the student a spirit of
inquiry and capacity for independent thought and personal
investigation, than the mere imposing on the memory the con-
tents of text-books. We are pleased to hear the president
say, after a most excellent recitation of the class in botany,
that he had adopted the method of Agassiz, — a method whose
worth is surprisingly illustrated by a four-year-old botanist of
his own family. The same method of instruction introduced
at the beginning of an education and continued through later

AN EXPERIMENTAL STATION. 321

years, must make a strong mind complete master of its
materials. The diverse nature of the obstacles that have to
be passed by the farmer, and his varied surroundings through
life, make this manner of instruction, in his case peculiarly
appropriate. The increasing individuality of the Agricultural
College is most fitting, and seems to us a proper cause for
congratulation. Strength and utility are promoted, by its
standing apart from other schools, and pursuing with vigor,
persistency and courage, its peculiar course.

The carrying forward of original, popular and interesting
investigations by President Clark, Prof. Goessmann, and
Prof. Stockbriclge have been attended with very good results.
The results in themselves are valuable. They have enlisted
the sympathy of intelligent men, and have advertised the
institution in the most desirable manner. The students have
been shown examples of enthusiastic, studious men in their
prime, and it has tended to diffuse throughout the College,
from the top to the bottom, and intermediate levels, an at-
mosphere of the most wholesome nature. Nothing could be
more conducive to awaken and stir the whole body of students,
give their minds while yet tender a bias towards inquiry, and
lend pleasure to the connecting of the exercise of the intellect
with the every-clay problems of life.

We find the idea of the agricultural experimental station
realized, as a legitimate belonging of the Agricultural College.
While in a neighboring State an appeal is being made to its
legislature to establish such a station by grant of money, in
our College so much has been accomplished as to have drawn
from the lamented Professor Agassiz, at the Fitchburg meet-
ing of the Board, the remark, that the Agricultural College
had already secured for itself a " place among the scientific
institutions." The spirit is this : give us your money, not
for ourselves, but for assistants and apparatus, and we will
give you results. The praise due will appear the more obvi-
ous if we bear in mind the following sentence, taken from the
" North American Review " for October of the past year, and
following a reference to the highest seats of learning set up
in this country : " However great the knowledge of the sub-
ject which may be expected in a professor, he is not for a
moment expected to be an original investigator, and the

41

322 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

labor of becoming such, so far as his professional position is
concerned, is strictly gratuitous."

It may be, that if, in the record of the services of the
College, those services directly related to instruction and
those having the nature of research, were considered apart,
and a certain separation of funds recognized, the institution
as a whole would be strengthened. Were it generally known
that we have at Amherst an organization enthusiastically
willing and of ability to augment our knowledge of agricult-
ure, by experiment and observation, some persons might be
found willing to aid in the work, who are not ready to bestow
their generosity directly upon the College.

In that department of instruction presided over by the
professor of agriculture, and deservedly regarded of prime
importance, we note improvement. We think the later
classes are being better taught than were the earlier.

The occasion of the examination of the graduating class, to
mark who 'should be the recipients of the Grinnell agricultural
prizes, was of much interest. , The young men, as they re-
plied to the questions addressed to them, in language lucid,
unconventional and thoughtful, showed that they carried with
them from the College something of real value. We think
of no occasion when the College appeared to so good ad-
vantage.

The utility of the branch of knowledge in the keeping of
the veterinarian professor is acknowledged ; but so seldom
have high training and scholarship graced the calling, and,
frequently, so inadequately are its subjects understood, that
real culture and industry in this field are likely to be early
appreciated and amply rewarded. The young men display a
familiarity with the bones of our domestic animals, applying
to each the proper name. If they were equally familiar in
the domain of the interior animal economy, enabling an ex-
planation of the organs and functions to which the bony
framework is largely a shield, the knowledge would prove
exceedingly useful. The dissection of an animal by the class,
under the guidance of the professor, as a part of examination
exercises, and at other times open to all interested, would at
once give confidence, in our opinion, to the student, aside
from instruction, and strengthen in the public, appreciation

MILITARY SCIENCE IN THE COLLEGE. 323

of such knowledge as can be thus afforded. We look forward
to a profitable extension of the veterinarian department. The
opportunity for growth will be realized when we consider that
the three veterinarian schools of France required, in 1862,
sixteen professors ; that the course of studies extended
through three years ; and that the number of students in
attendance exceeded six hundred.

The presence at the College of a United States army officer,
as professor of military science and tactics, secures able in-
struction in this essential part of the education of the com-
plete citizen. If we pass by the chance of war and the value
of possessing among the people individuals fitted by previous
training to become militia officers upon sudden call, the value
of a military training, as promotive of a manly bearing, order-
liness, promptness of action and fitness of speech, etc., is ob-
vious, and recurs with greater force to such as witness the
several classes in their military manoeuvres. We trust there
will be no diminution of interest in the military features of
the College.

The Durfee plant-house, stocked with a rare assortment
of plants from many climes, collected with reference to the
illustration, on a small scale, of the world's flora, is a
perpetual source of instruction and delight. The generosity
of Dr. Durfee is daily appreciated, and, through the seasons^
recurring growth and bloom are exerting beneficent influence
on the human being. It affords us pleasure to say that no
suggestion of neglect or shiftlessness occurs to mar the pleas-
ure of the visitor. Its present condition is creditable to
Assistant-Professor Maynard, the custodian, and a graduate
of the college.

Much of the education afforded by the College, it is well
known, is not more relative to the farmer's needs than that
of other classes in the community. The name of the institu-
tion carries the idea that all there taught must stand in
some peculiar relation to a particular calling. Tke fact is,
many of the students come very ill-prepared for a special
course, and there is required to be laid the fitting foundation.
A special course is most suitably engrafted upon a general
culture, of liberal outline, for by and in this the special must
find completeness. Hence, much less of the four years'

324 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

course is given to strictly agricultural studies than is given
in law or medical or scientific schools to their several
specialties. The Agricultural College has to provide algebra,
book-keeping, declamation and elocution, French and Ger-
man, English literature, mental science, freehand drawing,
etc., while carrying the student well forward in chemical
physics, organic and practical chemistry, botany, stock and
dairy farming, veterinary science, microscopy, geology and
other studies. In the curriculum we miss only one science
that it occurs to us should find place ; viz., meteorology.

Did all the young men come with an education more ad-
vanced than is afforded at our common schools, the scheme of
instruction might be quite different from what it is, and meet
our approval. It seems to us, however, absolutely needful
that the graduate have so general and extended a culture,
obtained somewhere, as shall enable him to maintain a posi-
tion of equality, at least, with the graduate of the classical
institution. The education can well be different ; but the
agricultural graduate, we hold, should have as much store of
information, as much of mind discipline, and as much of con-
fidence in the fitness and worth of the education he has had
offered him. If we thought the College failed in having too
low aspirations, or if we thought it was not pursuing the
path indicated with considerable success, we should say so
with entire frankness.

From the relation the Board sustains to the College, there
is a tendency to confine our observations more particularly to
agricultural features, and, if we dwell not upon others, it is
not because we hold them less important. The length of our
report makes us regret that the labors of several professors
receive no acknowledgment. They know, at least, that the
omission does not make them an unimportant part of the
faculty.

Hosts of visitors stroll over the farm during the year. It
is more open to observation than any feature of the College,
and consequently is more remarked upon. It is never in a
perfectly satisfactory condition to every one ; nor should this
be expected. Veiy probably, no two committees of the
Board would report favorably or unfavorably upon the same
details of management. But we believe that most intelligent

THE COLLEGE FARM. 325

persons acquainted with farm-life and the vicissitudes of the
seasons, would report the farm as under intelligent direction.
Fields have been smoothed and enlarged and adapted to the
use of machinery. Few clumps of trees or rough or wet
spots, comparatively, require removal. The form presents a
fair face to look upon. The buildings invite favorable com-
ment. The live-stock are in good condition, well fleshed,
kindly cared for, and the quality no reproach to the institu-
tion. Students do the chores in the barn, and it is creditable
to them ; the cattle show no aversion upon their approach,
but regard them with trustful eyes. No committee-man need
fear these are dressed for the official visit, for they tell the
truthful story of their daily lives.

If we had gone over the farm with the notion that it was
the estate of a gentleman of means and taste, devoting the
after-years of a successful life to its improvement, it must
certainly have produced in us a very satisfactory state of
feeling. A gentleman of agricultural tastes, improved by
reading and thought, would have pleasure in showing such a
place to his friends. We think it is a cause for congratula-
tion that the college farm has been brought to this degree of
excellence.

Were it not for our aspirations, — our association of prac-
tical affairs in this instance, with high intellectual conceptions,
— the subject would be passed without further remark. But
the very connection of a farm with a college makes us desire
that the form serve other uses to the public than an illustra-
tion of Massachusetts forming, though it were so much as
Massachusetts forming in its best achievement. It seems to
us highly desirable that this form be made to answer
questions that the farmer cannot afford to ask of his own
farm.

We would know the consumption of food of each animal
of the several breeds of cattle kept, and the produce. We
would know at any given period the amount of plant-food
that has been carted on each acre of the estate, and the kind
and weight of crop taken off. We would desire that the
visitor be encouraged to question, as to practical affairs, and
that he find here answers more full and accurate than can
be had elsewhere. The " guess " or " reckon " of the outer

326 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

world should not be echoed here. There should be knowl-
edge, or frank confession of ignorance.

We would show the students the example of an agricult-
ure systematized to the utmost. Much use of the scales,
measurement ; much memoranda of passing events ; much
attention of the mind to little things, and the relation of these
to a larger whole, — all this should furnish material for annual
reports ; a series of which would be a sort of encloptedia of
husbandly, having the interest of biography. Such a carrying
on of the farm and expression of results would encourage the
more frequent introduction into agricultural concerns of those
methods and discipline of mind, that, applied elsewhere, as-
sures progress. Hence growth of knowledge, so appropriate
for a college to foster, and so calculated to increase the
respect and fondness of the student for the agricultural life.
We look hopefully forward, well convinced, however, the
true status is not to be immediately realized. To make the
college farm a confessor of hidden truth requires money, and
a larger outlay than many practical men would approve of,
and more than the trustees of the College have at their dis-
posal for the object. It must be an outlay far exceeding
income. Something, however, may be done without much
expenditure, save that of enthusiasm, a right direction,
patience and industry ; and we believe acknowledgment of
the mine of wealth that lies at hand in the college farm will
forward the realization of our aspirations, and justify the
statement of them in this place.

For the Committee,

Joseph N. Sturtevant.

The report was accepted.

Col. Stone was appointed a Committee to report upon
the Credentials of newly elected Members.

The Board then adjourned.

Second Day.

The Board met at 10 o'clock, a. m., Hon. Marshall P.
Wilder in the chair.

BUSINESS MEETING. 327

Present : Messrs. Baker, Bennett, Clark, Cole, Davis,
Dwight, Goessraann, Goodale, Graves, Hadwen, Hawks,
Hyde, Knowlton, Knox, Ladd, Loring, Moore, Perry, Phin-
ney, Sanderson, Sessions, Shepley, Smith, Stone, Vincent,
Wakefield, L. P. Warner, W. L. Warner and Wilder.

Mr. Stone submitted the following

REPORT.

The Committee on the Credentials of newly elected Members
of the State Board of Agriculture have attended to the duty
assigned, and respectfully report the following elections : —

Essex, ......... George B. Loring.

Middlesex South, Elijah Perry.

Worcester, O. B. Hadwen.

Worcester West, Addison H. Holland.

Worcester North, Stephen Shepley.

Highland, Metcalf J. Smith.

Deerfield Valley E. C. Hawks.

Bristol, Edmund H. Bennett.

Plymouth, Charles G. Davis.

Leverett Saltonstall appointed by the Executive.

E. Stone,

Committee.
The report was accepted.

The Committee to consider and report a list of subjects
for investigation, and the assignment of committees to report
upon them, was constituted by the appointment of Messrs.
Clark, Goodale and Perry.

The Committee to report upon the assignment of delegates,
was constituted by the appointment of Messrs. L. P. Warner,
Stone and Vincent.

Voted, To appoint a committee of three to consider and
report what changes are necessary in times of holding Fairs :
Messrs. Wakefield, W. L. Warner and Phinney.

328 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Prof. Goessmann submitted the following Essay

ON THE" BEST MODE OF SUBDUING AND UTILIZING FOR
TILLAGE THE SALT MARSHES IN THIS STATE, AFTER
THEY ARE DRAINED.

Recent careful investigations on the part of officers of the
United States Coast Survey,* regarding the origin and the
general characteristics of the salt marshes within this State,
tend to prove that the ocean has played a most prominent part
in their formation. Most of these marshes, like those of the
Netherlands and the west coast of Denmark, are found to lie
within the " littoral cordon,'''' or that portion of the sea-shore,
which has been formed during a comparatively recent geolog-
ical period, in consequence of an accumulation of material
carried on by the tidal waters of the ocean. They occur
within this State in isolated strips of more or less extent, and
are usually situated within the recesses of small bays or coves.
Their nearly horizontal surface has been noticed to conform
in many instances with the local plane of mean high water.
The main bulk of the upper portion of the mineral matter
within these marine inlets, consists largely, as a general
rule, of the debris of the various outcropping geological forma-
tions along the sea-coast. The peculiar physical properties of
the exposed rocks ; the periodically varying degree of the
crushing force of the waves ; and the duration of exposure to
the grinding action of the rolling tidal waters, — each in turn
has affected the final mechanical condition and subsequent
local distribution of the dislodged rock-mass.

The original character of these tidal accumulations has
suffered quite frequently a considerable alteration in conse-
quence of a larger or smaller addition of fresh-water sed-
iments, coming from the interior country by means of creeks
and rivers terminating within the marshes ; or by a direct
access of the washings from the surrounding uplands. A
luxuriant vegetation, which usually soon springs up within a
quiet shallow marine basin, has aided no doubt in a later
stage of the formation of these new lands, by retaining the
lio-hter portion of the floating material of both fresh and salt

* " On the Reclamation of Tide Lands and its Relation to Navigation." By Prof.
Henry Mitchell, of the United States Coast Survey, 1869.

TILLAGE OF SALT MARSHES. 329

water. As the rocks which are exposed to the action of the
sea, as well as the surface-layers of the lands in the back
country are liable to differ, not only in regard to their physi-
cal condition, but also their chemical composition, it is but
proper to assume that the soil in our different salt marshes
may vary not only in some important properties as far as its
entire body is concerned, but also in regard to a uniform dis-
tribution of its various essential constituents. Considering
the nature of the previously enumerated agencies which have
been instrumental in the formation of the sea-marshes within
this State, it would be rather a singular fact to find even a con-
siderable portion of their area covered to any particular depth
by a homogeneous body of soil in their present undisturbed
natural condition. A profitable discussion of the question,
" What are the best modes of subduing and utilizing for tillage
the salt marshes of this State after they are drained?" can thus
only be attempted after a careful examination into the peculiar
resources of each locality shall have furnished the necessary facts.

In the subsequent pages I propose to present a few state-
ments with reference to that question, which for obvious
reasons cannot be otherwise than of a preliminary character.

Realizing the great importance of the problem under
consideration, and knowing that the successful cultivation of
reclaimed "tide-lands " is, with us, still a first trial, I decided
upon the following course of inquiry, namely : —

First. To render myself familiar with the history of some
quite striking instances of success in other countries.

Second. To study carefully the nature and the condition
of the salt marsh in the township of Marshfielcl, Plymouth
County, — the only one of our salt marshes of considerable
extent, which thus far has been reclaimed, in consequence of
a recently-constructed dike.

Third. To test, if possible, by field observations, those
views concerning a suitable mode of cultivation, which appear
judicious under existing circumstances.

I. — On the Character and the Cultivation of some of
the Sea-Marshes of Europe.
The deposits which gave rise to the formation of sea-marshes
are — as has been already stated — of a comparatively recent
42

330 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

geological period. They are either the settled scourings of
the ocean, or of both fresh and salt water; and resemble
quite frequently, certain layers of sand, or loam, or marl,"
found in the sea-bottom-lands of preceding geological periods.
In some instances they consist of nothing but layers of fine
sand, terminating in more or less extensive sand-bars of a
coarser material, — as, for instance, along the coast of the
Baltic Sea.

As they are usually quite deficient in most of the essential
constituents of a good agricultural soil, they remain unpro-
ductive. Formations of this kind are, in a large degree, the
consequence of a low tide, which prevents the temporary
existence of basins behind the bar, and thereby excludes the
chance of retaining the finer floating material of the sea-water.
These sand-deposits become, occasionally, the habitations of
numerous mollusks, and are thereby enriched by shells and
organic matter, changing subsequently into sandy marls.
They are found in some localities along the western coast of
Sweden, where they are highly valued for agricultural pur-
poses. The most fertile sea-marshes, as a general rule,
however, are found where tide-water and rivers have had an
equally important share in their formation. The well-known
sea-marshes at the mouths of the rivers Me use, Scheldt,
Rhine, Jahde, etc., belong to that class {Polders). The soil
differs widely in these localities. It is known to vary from
10 to 20 per cent, of sand, and 75 to 85 per cent, of clay,
with 5 per cent, of humus, — to from 10 to 15 per cent, of
clay, with 75 to 85 per cent, of sand. In some instances it
consists in the main of a calcareous clay. Most of these lands
are remarkably productive ; even those which contain from
70 to 80 per cent, of sand pay well if subjected to a rational
mode of cultivation. Success in the latter case is considered
certain, wherever, at a few feet depth, a clayish deposit
prevents an unusual waste of moisture and plant-food ; or
where a judicious system of ditches secures a constant but
moderate supply of fresh water.

Most noteworthy among the European sea-marshes are
those of Belgium. They form several distinct belts, of a
varying character, as far as the extremes of their respective
soils are concerned, and are, in many places, in a high state

SALT MARSHES OF EUROPE. 331

of cultivation. One portion of them is characterized by a
calcareous clay ; the other, by a light, sandy soil. The former
runs along the coast of the North Sea, beginning on the
border of France, and extending to the mouth of the river
Scheldt. This belt is from one and one-half to two geo-
graphical miles wide, and covers an area of about 250,000
acres. The same material which caused the formation of
these lands in former days, is at present still accumulating
within the small marine inlets in their vicinity. The surface
of the soil reaches here but a little above the plane of an
average low tide. Extensive sand-bars, supported by well-
constructed dikes, exclude the sea-water. Sluice-gates dis-
charge the fresh water into the ocean during low tide.

Stock-fattening, on account of favorable markets, is here
still the leading agricultural industry. Wherever the sod has
been turned, for a general mixed system of cultivation, most
excellent crops, of various kinds, have been raised, — usually
without any particular application of manures for a term of
from five to six years. ,

The following system of rotation of crops is a very com-
mon one in that locality : Barley, or rape ; beans ; wheat ;
beans; wheat; clover; potatoes; turnips; oats; winter
fallow with manure ; and, about every ten to twelve years,
grass for several years.

In the districts between Courtray and Mastricht, where a
light, sandy soil largely predominates, both barn-yard manure
and vegetable compost are largely used.

A system of ditches, containing fresh water, supplies the
soil under cultivation with a suitable periodical amount of
moisture. The crops are selected, as far as practicable, with
reference to an accumulation of organic matter within the
cultivated soil. Two crops are usually raised during one
season. These lands sell at present frequently from $170 to
$180 per acre, which is about ten times their original value.

The sea-marshes of Schleswig-Holstein contain a great
variety of soils, which, as a general rule, are noted for their
superior productiveness. The differences in the soil here are
mainly clue to a varying relative proportion of but a few min-
eral species. Forchhammer, who first carefully studied the
salt marshes of his home from a geognostic-agronomic stand-

332 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

point, found them more or less of a clayish character. The
clays proved to be deficient in lime and humus, but rich in
phosphoric acid and potassa (from 1 to 1.5 per cent). The
last two constituents were due to a fine white mica, which, as
a constant admixture, in common with quartz-sand, consti-
tuted the main bulk of the mineral species which modified
the soil. The humus contained in these fertile sandy clays
was found as low as 0.66 per cent., and rarely rose beyond
3.66 per cent. ; local accumulations of black peaty layers,
rich in humus, interfered seriously with their productiveness.
The most characteristic crop of these marshes is grass ; trees
are scarce ; the birch is seen here and there along the borders,
where the soil is of a turfy and deeper character. Wherever
the soil is cultivated, barn-yard manure and marl are almost
exclusively the fertilizers used. One-fifth of the area of the
farm is usually kept as a permanent pasture, and the remain-
ing four-fifths are, for four or five years, cultivated for other
products. After the expiration of that period they are seeded
down for from two to three years with grass. The usual
rotation of crops, in case of new lands, is : oats two years in
succession ; then rape ; subsequently wheat, and finally beans.
The best results have been obtained by raising grain crops
alternately with broad-leafed plants.

Changes in the character of the indigenous vegetation of
salt marshes are, as a general rule, under ordinary circum-
stances, slow; for they depend on a gradual alteration in the
physical and chemical condition of their soil. Sudden exclu-
sion of the salt water, by dikes or otherwise, only produced
different results. The extensive salt marshes along the North
Sea, being of different elevations, represent distinctly their
various stages of Growth. The vegetation which covers fehern
presents to the careful observer unmistakable features in re-
gard to the predominating varieties of plants at different
levels. This fact is so striking, that the appearance of certain
plants serves to the intelligent farmer as a guide in the selec-
tion of his industry. As long as the salt water still finds fre-
quent access to the marshes, genuine salt plants, like Salicornia
herbacea (Samphire) and Aster trifolium, are of frequent oc-
currence. As soon as the ordinary high tide no longer passes
over their surface, Poa maritima and other fodder-grasses

DRAINAGE OF DUTCH MARSHES. 333

begin to grow. Ordinary fresh meadow grasses, and white
clover in particular, do not make their appearance until the
surface-level of the marshes reaches from three to four feet
above the ordinary high tide. Whe:i this stage is attained,
dikes from sixteen to twenty feet high are usually raised,
and the soil is utilized either for pasture, or, after ploughing,
for the production of various kinds of farm-crops, — adhering
in the latter case to a well-tested system of rotation. Sea-
marshes, which are still liable to a periodical overflow by the
sea, are, as a general rule, left to the cultivation of grasses.

In treating of the cultivation of lands which by human
effort have been reclaimed from the control of the ocean, it
would scarcely be excusable to pass over one of the greatest
triumphs in that direction ; namely, the draining of the Harlem
Sea, and the successful cultivation of its former basin. The
Harlem Sea, until the middle of the sixteenth century, con-
sisted of four small inland lakes, which, in consequence of
subsequent extensive breaks in the dikes, rose rapidly to an
area of from 30,000 to 40,000 acres. The continual access
of sea-water had increased its surface to 45,000 acres and its
depth to 15 feet, when the government of Holland began its
operations for the drying out of this large area. The work
began in 1840, and was finished in 1852 to such an extent,
that the sale of the reclaimed sea-bottom lands could take
place during the following year. This result was accom-
plished by means of a simple plan, which, in its main fea-
tures, had been suggested as early as 1643. The sea was
surrounded by a broad ring-wall, in some instances from
fifteen to sixteen feet high. Upon the upper surface of this
wall was built a large ditch to receive the water of the sea,
by means of numerous powerful pumps worked by a few
(four) steam-engines of from 450 to 500 horse-power each.
The water had to be raised about fourteen feet on an aver-
age. The first cost per acre, without any improvements, —
as roads, drains, etc., — amounted to $42. About one-eigh-
teenth of the entire area of the former sea has been turned
to account for roads and ditches. The government has
realized two-thirds of its expenses, which amounted to about
$4,500,000, by the sale of the lands; taxation secures a
satisfactory interest on the remaining sum. The market

334 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

value of the lands rose in many instances, after one year's
cultivation, to three times their original cost. The expenses
for the amelioration of the raw soil are stated to have been
on an average of from $18 to $20 per acre.

The present annual production varies in value according to
the quality of the lands, — from $30 to $120 per acre. About
one-half of the reclaimed lands is still kept in grass.

There are at present from 9,000 to 10,000 people living
within the basin of the former sea, which, on account of its
high state of cultivation, engages the attention of visitors from
all countries.

The surface-layers of the sea-bottom prove to be of recent
origin and similar in character to the material which con-
stitutes largely the sea-marshes of the Netherlands. The
lowest deposit consists of sand, — then follows clay, then loam,
and on the surface is turf. These various materials, however,
did not form continuous layers throughout the entire basin,
but were frequently broken up, and only in part represented.
In some places the turf was wanting, — in others the clay, —
leaving nothing but loam and sand. Even bare deposits of
sand were occasionally found.

Variations in the price of the lands thus became a natural
consequence. In cases where the turf formed the surface-
layer, it was cut out, and the remaining soil subsequently
ploughed. In several instances the presence of iron pyrites
caused some trouble. Its speedy decomposition was effected
by a thorough draining and frequent turning of the soil.

The spontaneous growth which at first sprung up, upon the
the still wet and soft soil, changed rapidly. Cineraria palus-
tris, a plant very characteristic for sea-marshes in that locality,
at first grew so dense, that the entire basin, during the bloom-
ing period, resembled a great field of rape in blossom. It
retired to the banks of the drain-ditches as soon as the soil
lost its strong saline character, and inland plants took its
place.

The following course has been successfully pursued during
the first period of cultivating the lands of the Harlem Sea.

For a few years, only those crops were raised which require
either very rich soil, or those which prosper better than
others in a raw soil, — rape, or rye and oats. After the soil,

GREEN HARBOR MARSHES. 335

by repeated cropping, had been sufficiently ameliorated, wheat
and other crops succeeded. Red clover grew well after three
years' cultivation. Wheat and potatoes have since taken the
lead among the crops, and oats and rye have fallen off to one-
half of their original quantity. Although almost every kind
of ordinary farm-crops has been successfully raised, grass-
lands are of late rather gaining than losing in area. Whether
a superior qualification of the soil for the production of
grasses, or a late change in the condition of the markets has
favored that tendency, is still a matter of controversy.

II. — On the Salt Marshes above the Mouth of Green
Harbor River in the Township of Marshfield, Plym-
outh County, Massachusetts.

These salt marshes are situated along the banks of Green
Harbor River, above Turkey Point. A dike 1,800 feet long
and 6| feet high, containing a sluice-gate for the discharge of
fresh water during low tide, has been recently built, as a pro-
tection against the access of the ocean near a point where the
uplands approach the river on both sides. The construction
of the dike was commenced in July, 1872, and was finished
at an early date in 1873. High water on a high course of
tide formerly covered the entire area of the marshes, from a
few inches to several feet in depth, but on a low course only
a small portion. The salt water has not overflowed the
reclaimed salt marsh since November, 1872. The water of
the river has remained about six feet below the level of the
meadows, except occasionally, when in consequence of heavy
rains it has risen, for a day or two, from one to two feet higher.
The area reclaimed by the dike amounts to 1,412 acres, of
which about 200 acres might be called fresh meadows ;
752 acres run along the north side of the river, and 670 acres
along its south side ; 100 acres on the western end of the
meadows are separated by a road from their main body.

Green Harbor River extends about three miles into the
country, and receives, during its course, two main tribu-
taries and a large number of brooks and creeks, — draining
about 1,500 acres of salt marsh. The lower end of the river
is known by the name of Green Harbor. The entrance to
to the latter is obstructed by a sand-bar, which, at low

336 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

tide, carries but from two to three feet of water. The bed
of the river is represented to have a fall of five feet or
more from the western termination of the marshes towards
the dike.

Among the first plants noticed upon the marshes, before
the latter was built, was samphire (Salicornia herbacea) ;
then followed sea spear-grass (Ghjceria maritima, Wahl., or
Poa maritima, Huds.). The borders of creeks and other low
places were usually found covered with coarse sedges (Carex
species) and rushes (Juncus species). The more elevated
margins of the marsh-meadows showed occasionally small
patches of June-grass (Poa pratensis) , blue-grass (Poa com-
pressa), wild foxtail' (Alopecurus aristulatus) and so-called
black-grass (Juncus bulbosus, Juncus Gerardi, Loisel.). As
long as the tide had full access, a large portion of these
grasses were killed almost every year by frost, — a circum-
stance which, to some degree, explains the absence of a con-
tinuous sod. The grass growing upon the marginal meadows
was worth, at the period alluded to, about $2 per acre. The
interior meadows have hardly paid for mowing. Several
hundreds of acres of the latter had not been mowed for sev-
eral years previous to the construction of the dike. The first
grass was sown, by throwing the seed simply over the sur-
face, during the month of April, in 1873. The locality selected
for that purpose was situated in the interior of the marsh-
meadows, and comprised about twenty acres of redtop
(Agrostis vulgaris, With.) and fifteen acres of timothy
(Phleum pratense, L.). A new grass, commonly called
meadow fescue (Festuca elatior, L., variety of F. pratensis) ,
spontaneously made its appearance during the same year. It
was of a rank growth, and furnished hay at the rate of two
tons per acre.

I have visited, twice during the past season, these salt
marshes, and also some of the reclaimed salt meadows near
Newark, New Jersey. A short sketch of the observations
made on those occasions forms the contents of a few subse-
quent pages.

My first visit to the Green Harbor River salt marshes took
place on the 14th of April,— at a time, therefore, when the
new vegetation had not yet made its appearance upon the

THE MARSH DIKED IN. 337

racadows,— and the second on the 25th of June, — just before
the cutting of the grasses. On the first occasion, I enjoyed
the valuable assistance and kind hospitality of George M.
Baker, Esq., the member of this Board from the Marsh-
field Agricultural Society, and of Dr. Henry, of Marshtield.
On the second occasion, I had the advantage of being accom-
panied by the Hon. Charles L. Flint, Secretary of this
Board. On the first occasion, though early in the spring
(April 14), I found the reclaimed marshes in almost every
direction easy of access. Small pools of water were, how-
ever, not of unfrcquent occurrence. The meadows had been
burned over in some places during the preceding fall. The
numerous ditches for drainage, apparently constructed with-
out reference to any geueral plan, were, to a considerable
extent, in a bad condition, and could thus only in part accom-
plish their object. The water of the river and its tributaries
stood from four to five feet below the level of the adjoining
meadows. The exposed banks of the river showed that the
surface portion of the soil of the marshes consisted of a vary-
ing number of layers of a dark, grayish soil, and of vegetable
matter. The latter was apparently due to a series of succes-
sive periods of growth at different levels of the marshes.
The buried vegetation showed marked signs of disintegration
wherever it had been exposed to the freshening action of the
atmospheric precipitation of moisture and the influence of air
and light.

Encouraged by the general aspect of the reclaimed lands,
I suggested a few actual trials, with various garden crops,
etc., during the coming season.

As the successful cultivation of most farm crops upon sea-
marshes is known to depend to a controlling degree on the
exclusion and subsequent removal of the oceanic waters, I
decided to begin my investigation with an examination re-
garding the character of the water which permeated the sub-
soil at a depth of from three to four feet. The samples which
served for analysis were collected at the close of the month
of May, at a time when neither winter moisture nor summer
evaporation could seriously have affected its natural concen-
tration. The analyses were carried out merely with reference

43

338 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

to the most conspicuous constituent of sea water ; namely, the
chlorine. The following results were obtained : —

Chlorine Contained in One Hundred Parts of Water.

I. II. III. TV.

1.9407 1.702 2.3195 0.1138

No. I. represents the percentage of chlorine in an average
sample of the water of the Atlantic Ocean. (Kerl.)

No. II. refers to the percentage of chlorine found in a
sample of water taken from a hole, three to four feet deep,
dug for the purpose, in the middle section of the salt marshes.

No. III. refers to a sample of water from the lower section
of the salt marshes, which had been collected under conditions
similar to those of No. II. This sample showed, besides,
unmistakable marks of stagnation, by evolving a strong odor
of hydride of sulphur, and by a separation of sulphur.

No. IV. refers to a sample of water collected from a hole,
dug for that purpose, in the lower section of the reclaimed
salt meadows near Newark, N. J.

A simple comparison of the preceding analytical results,
shows quite plainly that the subsoil of the marshes still con-
tains a strong saline solution ; and that a more efficient
arrangement for drainage ought to receive, in the interest of
a speedy agricultural success of the enterprise, the immediate
attention of the parties interested.

Having ascertained the general character of the subsoil
water, my attention was turned towards an examination
regarding the physical and chemical condition of the surface
portion of the reclaimed salt marshes. I secured for this
purpose samples about two feet thick, and four by six inches
wide, from the upper, the middle, and the lower marsh
meadows. These samples — three in number — were collected
during the middle of May.

The sample from the eastern or upper portion of the
marshes consisted in the main of brown root mass, which in
its lower part contained only a few thin seams of a grayish
blue soil. One hundred parts of the air-dry mass, left, after
a careful calcination, from 44 to 45 per cent, of a reddish
colored mineral matter of a very fine texture. One thousand

SOIL OF SALT MARSHES.

339

. 6.588

oarts

. 5.080

a

. 62.200

««

. 20.000

(«

9.463

<<

. 24.200

i i

. 3.900

it

parts of the latter, when treated for a feAV days at an ordinary
temperature with diluted hydrochloric acid, produced a solu-
tion which contained : —

Calcium oxide,
Magnesium oxide,
Alumina,

Sesquioxide of iron,
Potassium oxide, .
Sodium oxide,
Phosphoric acid, .

The sample from the middle or central section of the
marshes (the same spot from which water, sample No. II.,
had been collected), consisted, to about two-thirds of its
entire thickness, of a brown root growth, with but a slight
admixture of a grayish blue silt, whilst its lower termination
(the remaining third) was mainly formed of soil. The bluish
gray soil, soon after an exposure to the air, showed in one of
its layers a considerable amount of oxide of iron, apparently
of an origin common with the magnetic iron ore, contained in
the sand of the beach. One hundred parts of the air-dry
mass, left, after a careful calcination, from 46 to 48 per cent,
of mineral matter. One thousand parts of the latter, when
treated like the previous sample, produced a solution which
contained : —

Calcium oxide,
Magnesium oxide, .
Alumina,

Sesquioxide of iron,
Potassium oxide, .
Sodium oxide,
Phosphoric acid,

8.2
3.2
86.0
67.0
11.50
29.15
3.70

parts.

The sample from the lower section of the marshes contained
a much smaller quantity of vegetable matter than the two
specimens previously mentioned. One hundred parts of the
air-dry soil left, after a careful calcination, from 89 to 90 per
cent, of mineral matter, which in color (reddish) resembled

340 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

that obtained in the preceding cases ; it was, however, of a
more sandy character.

In summing up the results of this investigation regarding
some of the general features of the surface portion of the
meadows, we find, first, that it contains — as far as tested
— an ample supply of plant-food for future crops ; secondly,
that the level of the meadows is, in all probability, due more
to an accumulation of the residual matter of successive
periods of growth than to a uniform level of the soil ; thirdly,
that the latter varies in regard to its chemical and physical
condition, in different sections of the marshes, as well as in
the numerous layers. The occurrence of isolated accumula-
tions of oxide pf iron, noticed in the sample from the central
section of the marshes, as well as the increase of sand towards
the lower termination of the latter, point strongly in that
direction.

A more definite decision regarding the extent of these con-
ditions, I prefer, for obvious reasons, to leave to future and
more extensive local examination.

Feeling, in consequence of the previous results, somewhat
better prepared for local observation, I paid a second visit to
the salt marshes, on the 25th of June, about a week before
the mowing of the meadows began. The earlier part of the
season, on account of frequent rains, had been quite unfavor-
able for working upon the marshes. The general character
of the vegetation, however, looked very encouraging, wher-
ever the surface of the meadows had enjoyed a fair chance of
drainage ; for instance, along the banks of the river and in the
vicinity of well-kept ditches. Goose-grass, or sea spear-
grass, had increased in the lower marshes ; meadow fescue,
which like the former had made its appearance spontaneously
during the preceding season, covered in the central part a
large area of about one hundred acres, at the rate of two tons
per acre. Other grasses, like red-top and herds-grass, which
had been sown in 1873, looked quite luxuriant, being in some
instances over three feet high ; they lodged in many cases
before cutting. Most of our fresh-meadow grasses were
noticed quite frequently in small patches ; even red clover
was seen occasionally in well-developed specimens. A few
experiments with various other farm crops, — as oats, potatoes,

DEAINED SALT MAKSHES. 341

pumpkins, squashes, onions, cucumbers and wheat,— had been
carried on along the banks of the river and its tributaries.
They all seemed to promise good results. Black-grass had
gained ground in some parts of the upper meadows. Sedges
and rushes had disappeared in many localities, retaining their
hold only upon grounds where peculiar local conditions had
apparently interfered with an efficient surface drainage.
Many of these places owed their existence most likely to the
presence of an impervious clayish deposit of limited extent,
somewhere benoath the surface. They were noticed quite
frequently in the midst of a luxuriant growth of genuine
grasses, and, on account of their comparatively bare appear-
ance, caused, to some extent, at least, the broken-up aspect of
the vegetation in some parts of the meadows.

Taking into consideration the short period of time since
(November, 1872) the salt water last overflowed these salt
marshes, it must be conceded that the changes which of late
have taken place in the character and value of their vegetable
products, as compared with those of previous years, are, to
say the least, quite remarkable.

Although a considerable area of the marginal meadows is
undoubtedly already in condition for a more systematic culti-
vation, the larger portion is not yet thus far advanced. The
cultivation of grass crops will thus, for a few years hence, be
the safest operation.

Immediate efforts should bo made to perfect a thorough
general plan for the draining of the subsoil. An early re-
moval of the salt water is desirable in the interest of a speedy
disintegration of organic matter within the subsoil, and also
of a good economy regarding various essential soil constitu-
ents, as phosphoric acid, lime and potassa. It is indispensable
for the successful production of a more valuable growth.

As soon as an efficient drainage has been secured, attention
should be paid to the improvement of the chemical and
physical condition of the surface portion of the soil. The
plough should be effectually applied as soon as the accumu-
lated organic matter beneath the present sod becomes spongy
by its progressing decay, and thus tends to interfere with the
formation of a continuous and compact sod. The latter, as
is well known, is essential for a profitable cultivation of

342 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

grasses. The ploughing of the meadows would favor not only
a more uniform distribution and subsequent rapid decay of
the excess of vegetable matter present, but would also change
the various layers of the soil into a homogeneous body, fit for
agricultural purposes.

I do not feel prepared to enter at present into any detailed
discussion on the best system of rotation, for too little is as
yet known concerning the general character of the soil which
underlies the unbroken sod.

It is gratifying to learn that steps will be taken during the
coming season, which will furnish a safer basis for profitable
suggestion in that direction.

Chakles A. Goessmann.

Read and laid over.

Mr. Baker then reported as delegate upon the Worcester
North Society ; Mr. Ladd upon the Middlesex South ; Mr.
Root (read by the Secretary) upon the Hampshire, Franklin
and Hampden ; Mr. Hyde upon the Barnstable ; and Dr.
Loring upon the Bristol.

On motion of Col. Clark, it was

Resolved, That the memorial of the American Academy of
Arts and Sciences, in advocating a scientific survey of the
Commonwealth, receive the support of the State Board of
Agriculture.

Resolved, That it is desirable that the relations of the sur-
vey to the agricultural interests of the State receive special
recognition.

Resolved, That three members of the Board be appointed
a committee, with full powers, to take such action in reference
to this important matter as they may deem proper.

The committee was constituted by the appointment of
Messrs. Wilder, Moore and the Secretary.

Mr. Sessions submitted a paper embodying his experience
in the cultivation of

CULTURE OF THE APPLE. 343

THE APPLE. (Pyrus Malus L.)
HISTORY.

The apple is a native of both Europe and America. Many
varieties of the crab, from which our improved varieties orig-
inated, are found growing wild on both continents. In
Oregon, the Indians use a native crab-apple, the size of a
cherry, as an article of food. Most of the improved varieties
are the result of accident, or rather accidental crossing. As
is now well known, the new varieties of our fruits and veg-
etables are obtained by either the natural or artificial process
of mixing the pollen from the stamens of the blossom of one
variety, with the pistil of another blossom ; and from the
seeds of this fertilized fruit new varieties are expected. Yet
how often are our expectations disappointed, — for it has been
shown by Mr. Bull, of Concord, who originated the Concord
grape, that perhaps only one plant in a thousand will be any
improvement upon the old varieties. Most varieties of
apples will flourish best near the locality where they origi-
nated. Thus the Baldwin, greening and russet flourish better
in New England than the Northern spy, Newtown pippin and
Spitzenberg, which prefer the rich lime soils of the West.

Over nine hundred varieties of apples are found in the gar-
dens of the Horticultural Society, London, and over fifteen
hundred varieties have been tested there.

It is generally considered that apples grown on the fertile
lands of the West, though large and fair, are yet inferior in
flavor to those grown on the strong, gravelly and sandy loams
of this section. Apples grown on such soils, on our moun-
tain farms, will also keep much longer than those grown on
the alluvial soils of our valleys.

REMINISCENCE.

We well remember the supreme satisfaction we expressed
in our boyhood, when, perched in the crotch of the old, early
sour tree, with hands and pockets full, we ate the luscious
fruit; or, when running from tree to tree in the dewy morn,
gathering the early apples that had fallen through the night ;
and the fun and frolic when returning down the steep side-

344 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

hill, — homeward bound, — when, either by chance or design
on the part of some roguish one, the basket was upset ; and
then the lively chase to gather up the apples before they all
reached the foot of the hill. It does seem as though those
apples were superior in flavor to any of the improved varieties
of the present day. We well remember the early-sours,
sugar-sweets, striped-sweets, cat-heads, etc., which our youth-
ful tastes pronounced perfect, yet would now be ranked only
as third-rate apples.

PROPAGATION.

Thirty-five years ago, at the age of twelve years, I was en-
couraged by my father to commence raising and propagating
fruit-trees in our garden nursery, and it has been continued,
on a small scale, to the present time. Here I have learned
that stocks for the nursery should always be seedlings, and
grafted or budded, when about the size of the scion, or but a
little larger. Grafting on roots or suckers from old trees pro-
duce a stock of feeble constitution, early maturity and of little
value during its short life. Such stocks are more prolific in
throwing up suckers around their trunks than in yielding fruit.
Several such trees have passed away on our own farm, and
their places filled with others of stronger constitution.

I have about 800 trees set on twenty acres of land, most
of which have been raised on the farm, and have been set
from ten to twenty years. A few were set in 1840. With a
slight exception, none of this land has been cultivated since
the trees were set. Before setting, the land was thoroughly
ploughed and enriched, and underdrained where necessary ;
cleared of loose stone and seeded to grass, bushed and rolled ;
after which the stakes were set two rods apart each way, and
holes dug, as hereafter described. These lands have been
mowed ever since the orchard was set, though now we pro-
pose to pasture them with either sheep or young cattle. A
top-dressing of either manure or ashes has been applied every
other year. It is wonderful what a change will be made in
the quality and quantity of the fruit produced by a slight
application of ashes, sown under the trees as far as the limbs
extend. . •

Trees on very rich ground, or stimulated with too much

SITE FOR AN ORCHARD. 345

manure on cultivated land, often make so rapid a growth, late
in the season, that the wood is not properly matured. Such
wood is often winter-killed, and scions set from such growth
are sure to die ; such scions, that are enfeebled by the frosts
of winter, can be distinguished by the brown color of the pith
toward spring.

In selecting a site for an orchard on our mountain farms,
we should choose a southern or eastern exposure, if possible ;
but any land with a strong, dry soil, or moderately moist,
will answer all purposes. Avoid a wet or hardpan subsoil,
unless thoroughly underdrained. On any land suitable for
raising corn, apple-trees will flourish. So small a proportion
of our mountain farms are suitable for cultivating crops, that
it becomes a matter of necessity, if we have orchards at all,
to put them on land so hilly or rocky that they cannot with
profit be cultivated ; and consequently, for the same reason,
if we set our orchards on such land, we cannot cultivate them.
If we set our best land, suitable for cultivation, to orchards,
we can cultivate them ; but we have no such land to spare for
an orchard. Hence, we are driven to these alternatives, — we
must either go without the orchards, or set them on land that
we cannot cultivate ; for if we attempt their cultivation, it
is at the risk of their washing, year by year, into the valley
below.

MANAGEMENT.

Then the question arises, How shall we manage orchards on
such lands ? Evidently we cannot cultivato them ; yet by
mulching and top-dressing we promote a suitable growth of
well-ripened wood. The idea that orchards must always be
cultivated, prevents many from commencing what they know
to be a herculean task on our mountain farms.

The cultivation of orchards is often carried to extremes, doing
more injury than good. The land is ploughed and ploughed
and cropped, without manuring the trees, and ploughed so deep
near the trees that most of the roots that get any nourishment
and warmth from the surface-soil are destroyed, from year to
year, as soon as they attempt to extend themselves to perform
their otBce. If not disturbed, these innumerable rootlets will
extend themselves all through the surface-soil and gather food
from anything suitable that man or nature may provide.

44

346 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Where the soil is adapted to the apple, or where an annual
supply of nourishment is deposited under the trees by cattle,
or washings from the road or hillsides in the spring, or during
heavy showers, the apple will live and flourish, and produce
large crops for nearly a century.

I have recently cut down apple-trees in such a locality,
from two to three and a half feet in diameter, that were old
trees sixty years ago, when my father first came on to the
place ; some of these trees have produced forty and fifty
bushels in a single year. The tops of several of these trees
were changed by grafting some thirty or forty years since.
They produced several large crops ; and then, limb by limb,
from its own weight, fell to the ground, for want of strength
in the old stock to support the superabundant young growth.
I have lono; since come to the conclusion that grafting old
trees does not pay, even if the grafting is successful, and
large crops are produced for several years. The cost of pick-
ing apples on a thirty or forty foot ladder will amount to more
than the crop is worth in market.

TRANSPLANTING.

Ill this latitude we prefer the early spring. Select trees of
thoroughly ripened wood. Prune severely, to balance the
loss of roots, cutting back the wood on each branch, at least
one-half of the last year's growth of wood. My orchards were
set thirty-three feet apart each way, — forty feet would be
better. Trees to form a perfect head, require light and air
from all directions, and if set too close, will grow upwards,
like forest trees, to get at the light and air, while the lower
branches die and drop off. Forest trees in the open field
form a perfect head as well as fruit trees, with foliage to the
ground ; so on the edge of the forest, we find the limbs reach-
ing far out horizontally to catch the breeze, wdiile in the dense
forest only the topmost branches grow and thrive, and are
ever reaching upwards to the sun and light ; it being a wise
provision of Providence to supply the tall timber trees for the
wants of man. Having set the stakes two rods each way, the
holes were dug from two to three feet wide and one and a half
feet deep. The surface-soil was saved, to be used in setting,
and the subsoil spread over the ground. Sufficient rich earth

PRUNING OF ORCHARDS. 347

was brought to fill the holes. Set the trees about the same
depth as in the nursery. Carefully spread the roots out hori-
zontally, inclining downwards slightly ; not allow them to
interfere with each other, cutting all broken ends with a sharp
knife. I use no water, only to thoroughly wet the roots
before placing them in the ground, so that the fresh earth will
adhere to the tender rootlets. Tread the soil gently down
with the foot around the tree, when the hole is entirely filled
with earth.

PRUNING.

The pruning of the orchard can be done any time when the
sap is dormant, and should begin as soon as the tree is trans-
planted from the nursery. If attended to in season, and done
in a judicious manner, no instrument need be used, for the first
ten or fifteen years, larger than the pocket pruning-knife with
hooked blade ; but if neglected, the saw must be used to
remove the surplus wood.

In forming the head, only three or four lateral limbs should
be allowed to grow, with the leading, upright shoot. This
leading, upright shoot, may be removed from upright growing
trees, as the Northern Spy, Lady Apple, early and late Straw-
berry, but never from those with spreading top or horizontal
growers, as the Greening, R. Russet, Gravenstein, P. Sweet, etc.

I think those varieties with a round head, as the Baldwin,
Nonesuch, etc., are not improved by cutting out this leading
shoot. No invariable rules can be laid down in regard to
pruning ; yet we learn to remove all limbs which cross or
interfere with each other, or are so near above each other
that, if loaded with fruit or leaves, will rest on or chafe the
one below. Limbs should be removed where so thick as to
exclude the air and light. The first set of limbs should be at
right angles with the trunk, and radiate from it like the
spokes of a wheel. The next set should not be directly
above the first, but alternate with them, so that, if loaded with
fruit, it will rest upon two limbs, and not interfere with any
one below it, as would be the case if directly above. Like
an old stone-wall-layer, who, when asked how he laid wall,
said he did not lay one stone upon another, but one stone
upon two. All dead-wood and such lower limbs as show
signs of failing by being overshadowed, should be removed.

348 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

In forming the head for orchard trees, I should not allow
the lower limbs to start out less than five or six feet from the
ground, and at that distance they will rest upon the ground
when grown and loaded with fruit.

There are three or more objects gained by judicious prun-
ing. First, larger fruit ; second, by letting in the sun-
light and air, fruit of a much higher flavor ; and third, greater
ease and convenience in gathering the fruit.

INSECTS.

Besides the curculio (which we have never known to med-
dle with the apple-tree), the caterpillar is the only. enemy
that we have had occasion to contend with. We have always
been successful when we charged upon him in season, and
taken him unawares, when in camp. The only sure and
effectual remedy, is to attend personally to his case, with
ladders, — stripping the nests and all their occupants from the
tree with the hands, and stamping them under the foot. The
borer has never troubled us.

HARVESTING.

Apples for the market should always bo picked from the
trees by hand. If winter apples, they may be kept in open
barrels or bins, in the barn or sheds, until in danger of freez-
ing; then barreled up and put in a cold, dry cellar, and kept
as cold as can be and not freeze.

The following is a list of sweet and sour apples that ripen
in succession the year round : Early Harvest, Red Astricau,
Gravenstein, Porter, Hurlburt, Nonesuch, Greening, Baldwin,
Russet, Early Sweet Bough, Golden Sweet, Ramsdel Sweet,
Pound Sweet, Danvers Sweet, Ladies' Sweet.

Horace M. Sessions.

Col. Wilder said : I am pleased with the paper of Mr.
Sessions, illustrating as it does how certain lands, which were
not susceptible of cultivation for other purposes, could be
converted into orchards for the apple. These side-hills and
rough lands were often selected by our ancestors for the same
purpose, and containing, as they often do, rocks like the
granite, which are perpetually yielding up potash for nutri-

CARE OF ORCHARDS. 349

ment to the trees. In the case of Mr. Sessions, it is manifest
that even on these lands, with the regular dressing of ashes
or manure, they may be made profitable. His practice in the
manuring of orchards is to be commended, without which few
orchards in New England can be kept in perfect condition,
and from this neglect, more than any other cause, our orchards
have been on the decline.

And here let it be remarked, that where cultivation and
protection from insects have been regarded, as in our gardens,
that the apple is as fine now as it was in its pristine days. It
is a remarkable fact, also, that the apples originating in New
England — for instance, the Baldwin, Rhode Island Greening
and Rhode Island and Connecticut Russets — are still the great
favorites for market, and that from Western New York annu-
ally there are sent to the markets more than a million of bar-
rels in a year. In a word, until orchards are ten or more
years of age, no crop, except vegetables, should be permitted
to occupy the ground ; and then, if grass is grown, the laud
must be regularly manured, so as to sustain both crops without
injury to either, if such a thing be possible.

After some further discussion by Messrs. Moore, Hadwen,
Stone and others, the Essay was laid over under the rule.

On motion of Mr. Vincent, it was

Resolved, That, as members of this Board, we will use our
influence with the several societies which we represent, to
induce them to provide for at least one scholarship each in
the Massachusetts Agricultural College, and to secure the
attendance of one or more scholars from our societies.

Adjourned.
Third Day.

Boston, Feb. 4, 1875.
The Board met at 10 o'clock, a.m., Col. Stone in the Chair.

Present: Messrs. Baker, Bennett, Clark, Cole, Davis,
Dwight, Goessmann, Goodale, Hadwen, Hawks, Knox,
Knowlton, Ladd, Loring, Moore, Perry, Phinney, Sander-
son, Sessions, Shepley, Smith, Stone, Vincent, L. P. Warner,
W. L. Warner and Wilder.

350 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

On motion of Mr. Moore, it was

Voted, That the Board accept the invitation of the citizens
of Haverhill to meet at that city on November 30 and De-
cember 1 and 2.

Messrs. Loring, Moore, Ladd and the Secretary, were
appointed a committee of arrangements.

Dr. Wakefield, from the committee on the times of hold-
ing the county fairs, reported that the Middlesex North should
begin on the last Wednesday of September, the Hampden
East on Thursday, September 23, the Union on Wednesday,
September 22, the Decrfield Valley on Thursday, September
23, and the Hingham on the last Wednesday of September.

The report was accepted.

Voted, that the same committee be continued, to consider
and report upon the times of holding all the fairs of societies
receiving the bounty of the State at the next meeting of the
Board, June 22, and that the Secretary notify the societies
that such action will be taken.

Mr. Clark then submitted the following

LIST OF SUBJECTS FOR INVESTIGATION.

1. Methods of Improving Fruits — Messrs. Wilder, Moore and Hadwen.

2. Cheap Transportation and Marketing of Farm Products. — Messrs.
Kellogg, Sanderson and Davis.

3. Saving and Preparation of Manures on the Farm. — Messrs. Wake-
field, Cole and Ladd.

4. Structure and Position of Farm Buildings. — Messrs, Stone, Dwight
and Hawks.

5. On the Size and Conduct of Farms in Massachusetts. — Messrs. L. P.
Warner, Shepley and Hawes.

6. Trees : Their Planting and Culture. — Messrs. Hadwen, Sargent
and Myrick.

7. The Improvement in Salt Marshes. — Messrs. Goessmann, Baker and
Phinney.

8. The Uses of an Arboretum. — Messrs. Sargent, Chadbonrne and
Knowlton.

9. Field and Garden Seeds. — Messrs. Moore, W. L. Warner and Hol-
land.

10. The Sources of Agricultural Improvement. — Messrs. Loring, Ben-
nett and Smith.

11. The Claims of Ornamental Gardening upon Farmers. — Messrs.
Saltonstall, Perry and Moore.

12. Buds. — Messrs. Clark, Chadbourne and Wilder.

STATE INSPECTOR OF FERTILIZERS. 351

13. Experiments in Potato Culture. — Messrs. Goodale, Knox and
Vincent.

14. Devon Cattle. — Messrs. Sessions, Fearing and Gi'aves.

15. Guernsey Cattle. — Messrs. Sargent, Stone and Goodale.

16. What has Chemistry done for Agriculture? — Messrs. Chadbourne,
Goessmann and Saltonstall.

The report was accepted, and the assignments made
accordingly.

Prof. Goessmann then presented his

SECOND ANNUAL REPORT AS STATE INSPECTOR OF FER

TILIZERS.

To the State Board of Agriculture :

Gentlemen, — In presenting the results of my last year's
work as State Inspector of Fertilizers, I beg leave to offer a
few introductory remarks.

The exertions of your committee in connection with some
alterations in the original "Act concerning the regulation of
the trade in Commercial Fertilizers" have been crowned with
success. The law, in its present amended form, recognizes
the rights of the farmers, protects the honest manufacturer,
places the inspector in a position favorable for efficient work,
and leaves the enforcement of its regulation with the execu-
tive officer of the Board. The introduction of an official
chemical inspection of fertilizers has been received with great
satisfaction on the part of agriculturists throughout the entire
country. The majority of leading manufacturers, judging from
many communications received, recognize the propriety of a
careful examination into the quality of the fertilizer sold, and
do not object to a corresponding responsibility regarding the
represented value of their articles. The objections raised
against a chemical control of the trade are largely based on
misconceptions, and only of an exceptional occurrence.

The desire to promote a mutual understanding between
manufacturers and farmers regarding their respective inter-
ests, I hope will serve as an excuse for the manner in which
my analytical results are subsequently presented.

I. — German Potash Salts.
Although these salines acquire deservedly, from year to
year, more prominence with us as a suitable source of potassa

352

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

for agricultural purposes, it remains still a matter of much
regret, that the main bulk of our supply during the past year
has been agaiii of the lower grades. The subsequent analyti-
cal statements illustrate well what kind of articles we have
been using.

1

I.

II.

in.

Potassium oxide,

Magnesium oxide,

Sulphuric acid,

7.97

17.16

9.30

3.07

14.56

30.97

7.56

18.20
*

*

*

*

8.72
19.92

*
11.60

* Not determined.

The samples which furnished these results were taken from
three different lois, which Prof. L. Stockbridge, of the Mas-
sachusetts Agricultural College, had bought of a Boston dealer
for his experiments with various crops. Sample No. I. was
represented to contain 34 per cent, of potassium oxide, No.
II. 32 per cent., and No. III. 41 per cent. The bag from
which I took the sample for the above analysis of No. III.,
was accompanied with a statement of Messrs. Merick & Gray,
of Boston, testifying to an analysis of a German potash salt
made by them, which contained 41.38 per cent, of potassium
oxide. Having no chance to identify personally the bag
which had furnished the material for our so widely differing re-
sults, I left the explanation of this singular case to the parties
connected with the business transaction. There was a differ-
ence in value of from forty to fifty dollars per ton, between
the actual state of the three articles tested and their repre-
sented composition. As the sale of every one of these three
lots of potash salts had been effected at an early date in the
month of May (1874), some months previous to the final pas-
sage of the present law for the regulation of the trade in
commercial fertilizers, no action was taken, beyond informing
at once all parties interested in the sale, of my results. I
visited, however, as soon as the new law had become binding
upon the dealers, the storehouse whence these potash salts
had been procured, in order to learn from personal observa-

GERMAN POTASH SALTS.

353

tion, whether there really existed such an unusual difference
in the composition of the contents of different bags, belong-
ing, as stated, to one cargo, and imported as one quality,
two years previous, by a predecessor in the business. I
selected samples from two different bags, and subjected each
one to a separate examination, which gave the following
results : —

IV.

v.

Potassium oxide,

Sodium oxide,

Magnesium oxide,

Calcium oxide,

Sulphuric acid,

Chlorine,

8.37
20.14
9.81
1.23
9.03
36.93

9.18

18.34

9.83

1.26

10.18

36.39

In comparing these figures with those of Nos. L, II. and
III., we notice a close resemblance regarding the general
character of the various samples tested. They contained
from 32 per cent, to 38 per cent, of chloride of sodium (com-
mon salt), and from 7.4 to 10.3 per cent, of chloride of mag-
nesium. The larger portion of their potassa proved to be
present in form of chloride of potassium ; and they belong,
consequently, without exception, to those low grades of
German potash salts which are commonly called "Dungsalts."
To test the value of the standard analyses usually furnished
at the German ports for every lot of potash salts shipped, I
made subsequently also an analysis of a sample of muriate of
potash, which had been sold with a guaranty of 80 per cent,
of potassium chloride. The following results were obtained :

VI.

Potassium oxide,

Sodium oxide,

Magnesium oxide,

Calcium oxide,

Sulphuric acid,

Chlorine,

50.30
9.85
0.09
0.06
0.17

49.11

•15

354

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

As 50.3 per cent, of potassium oxide are equal to 79.6
per cent, of potassium chloride, it seems that some reli-
ance can be placed in the analytical statements which form
the usual basis in all sales of German (or Stassfurt) potash
salts.

A few more of my examinations may convey some idea
regarding the quality which has been largely sold in New
York and Baltimore.

VII.

VIII.

Potassium

oxide, .

10.14

16.21

26.23

Magnesium oxide,

9.41

3.51

Calcium oxide,

......

0.62

1.10

Sulphuric

20.21

9.58

Chlorine,

33.45

*

* Not determined.

These samples contained from 5.2 to 6.7 per cent. 'of mag-
nesium chloride, and from 44.5 to 49.5 per cent, of sodium
chloride (common salt). Sample No. VIII. fell 2.8 per
cent, of potassium oxide below the represented compo-
sition.

To supply our markets, year after year, mainly with the
inferior grades of these saline fertilizers is a great mistake on
the part of our importers, and cannot do otherwise than injure
our agricultural interests ; particularly as long as we are still
engaged in studying, by experiments, their special value, as
well as their best mode of application upon our lands. First
cost alone ought not to decide regarding the kind of article
we should import. To buy the low grades of potash salts is,
even in Germany, not considered economical on the part of
farmers, for they have learned that whenever the cost of
transportation of one hundred pounds of potassium oxide
exceeds about sixty cents, the higher grades become the
cheaper article. To pay an additional freight across the
Atlantic on eighteen hundred pounds of material, which we
have in abundance and cheaper at home, for the purpose of

THE DEALERS' PRICES.

355

securing from one hundred and sixty to two hundred pounds
of potassium oxide, cannot be the best course to obtain a
suitable supply. There are other points besides first cost which
the farmer has to consider when he proposes to utilize the
German potash salts. It has been well proved that the form
in which the potassium is present — whether as potassium
chloride or as potassium sulphate — as well as the peculiar
nature and the amount of the compounds which usually accom-
pany the potassium in its natural state, control, to a great
extent, their action on various crops and upon different kinds
of soil.

As these points are apparently not yet sufficiently appre-
ciated on the part of dealers and farmers — judging from
numerous inquiries received during the past year — I beg leave
to insert here a few statements which may prove acceptable
to both parties. Two extensive manufacturing establishments
at the seat of the potash industry at Stassfurt, Germany, offer
their potash fertilizer at the following terms (1874) : —

Circular No. 1. — Of Stassfurt Dealers.

Name and Quality of the Potash Fertilizer.

Minimum percent-
age of Potassium
Oxideguarauteed.

o

.0 u
o .2

*~ o

o

o H
. y,

S. o

~ a

<« 3

0 «

1 1

I. Artificial kainit, ....

.

13

$0 CO

$0 04.7

II. Concentrated potash fertilizer,

25

1 20

04.8

III. Five times concentrated potash (=z ma
riate of potash) ,

:}

50

1 80

03.72

IV. Potash ; magnesia ; sulphate,

•

15

78

05.2

Note. — " The prices stated apply to quantities not less than twenty-five
tons of any one kind, including bags, at Hamburg or Bremerhafen.
The samples for analysis are taken on board of vessel by Dr. G. L. Ulex,
of Hamburg, and his results are guaranteed in the sale. The articles are
exported in bags, containing 200 pounds each ; the freight, by sailing-
vessel, to New York, amounts to from five to eight shillings (sterling)
per ton."

356

BOAKD OF AGRICULTURE.

Circular No. 2. — Of Stassfurt Dealers.

Name and Quality or German (ok Stassfubt)
Fertilizers.

S o

be
o

a o

I. Ground potash fertilizer, containing^
10 to 22 per cent, of potassium sul- !
phate, with more or less common f
salt, to suit customers, . . .J

II. (a) Concentrated potash fertilizers, .

II. (b) Three times concentrated potash ^
fertilizer, containing 55 to 59 per >
cent, of potassium sulphate, . . J

III. Sidphate of potassium and magnesia,
containing 28 to 33 per cent, potas-
sium sulphate,

III. (a) Artificial kainit, containing (ap-

proximately) from 20 to 27 per cent.
of potassium sulphate,

IV. Refined sulphate of potassa, contain-

ing from 78 to 80 per cent.,

V. Five-times concentrated potash-salt,^
containing from 80 to 85 per cent, of !
potassium chloride, commonly called [
muriate of potash, . . . .J

VI. Refined sulphate of potassa and mag-^
nesia, containing 52 to 56 per cent, j
of potassa sulphate and 30 to 38 per !
cent, of magnesia sulphate, which j
equals from 10 to 12 per cent, of
magnesium oxide,* . . . .J

VII. Sulphate of magnesia, containing 60
per cent., which is equal to 20 per
cent, of magnesium oxide,

}

9.10

25.0

30.32

15.18

13.0

43.44

50.53

28.30

$0 36

1 00

1 32

60

48

3 08

2 16

2 70

36

04.

04.4
05.3

04.

03.7
07.2

04.3
09.5

* The valuation in this case includes that of both potassa and magnesia.

The following figures refer to their wholesale prices at
Hamburg, including bags : —

No. I. Ton, = 2,240 lbs.,

II. o) "

11.(6) "

£1 155.

4 15

5 10

POTASH ESSENTIAL TO PLANTS. 357

No. III. Ton, = 2.210 lbs £2 10s.

" III. (a) " " 2 5

"V. " " 6 15

" VI. " 10 10

" VII. " " 1 15

1 German thaler — $ 0.72, gold.
1 English shilling = $0.2261, gold.
1 pound, sterling, — $1.86.66, "

"The percentage of potassium oxide mentioned in reference
to various salines is in every case guaranteed. Each bag, if
desired, will receive the factory brand, stating the quality of
its contents. The bags usually contain two hundred pounds,
and an extra charge of from fifteen to twenty-four cents each
is made, according to the quality of the material they are
made of. The freight from Hamburg to New York by steamer
is at present from eight to twelve shillings per ten, in lots of
fifty tons."

These statements, coming as they do from leading manu-
facturing companies in Germany, give us some more definite
ideas regarding the first cost of the higher and lower grades
of these fertilizers, and may thus aid us to consider their
importation from a mere pecuniary commercial stand-point.
However valuable this kind of information may be to dealers
in fertilizers, it ought to be to the farmer of but secondary
importance, for he ought to select them with reference to their
peculiar agricultural character.

Whether potash fertilizers are useful for agricultural pur-
poses has never been seriously questioned, since we have
learned, by careful investigation, that potassa is one of the
esseutial or indispensable articles of plant-food. The unu-
sually large amount of potassa which most of our ordinary
farm-crops abstract from the soil renders an additional supply
of potash fertilizers to our cultivated lands in many instances,
on general principles, judicious. The application of potash
fertilizers to our farm-lands in their present state of cultiva-
tion may, therefore, be urged with the same propriety as that
of the various phosphates. We have for years successfully
used fertilizers containing phosphoric acid, bestowing but
little attention to a supply of potassa, although most of our
farm-crops — the industrial, as tobacco, etc., in particular —

358

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

require, as a general rule, a much larger amount of potassa
than of phosphoric acid. A few figures bearing on this point
may serve here as an illustration.

Phosphoric
Acid.

Potassium
Oxide.

Wheat (grain and straw),

Indian corn,

Meadow grasses, .

Clover,.

Potatoes,

Turnips,

Tobacco,

Grapes, . . .

Oats, ....

Rye, ...

Barley, ....

Taking even the best economy for granted, there is scarcely
any reason to doubt that in very many instances an applica-
tion of soluble potash compounds as fertilizers will be as ben-
eficial as phosphatic fertilizers have proved to be. The main
point which the farmer has to consider, when contemplating
the use of the German potash salts, — on account of their
peculiar saline character, — consists in the question, what
particular hind of the above enumerated compounds would
be best, i. e., most efficient, in his case. As none of our for-
mer potash fertilizers — as wood-ash, nitre, etc. — can be
directly compared in regard to composition, and thus to
peculiar mode of action, with the German or Stassfurt potash
salts, it seems but prudent on our part to turn the experience
of others to account. Taking this view of the case, I present
subsequently, in a condensed form, the best indorsed experi-
mental results obtained in Germany, France and England.

The sulphate of potash is unanimously indorsed as the
safest potash compound, — without regard to the kind of crop,
— and as far as the quality of some industrial products are
concerned. It increases the percentage of starch in potatoes
and of susrar in beets. It counteracts best, in common with
nitrate of potassa, the tendency of tobacco to char, and to
smell offensively, thereby rendering it better adapted to smok-
ing, and increasing its commercial value. Upon wet lands

HIGHER GRADES MORE ECONOMICAL. 359

alone is it considered unprofitable, and the chloride of potas-
sium considered the safer article.

The chloride of potassium, on the other hand, has not
received such general commendation. Its use, as a fertilizer,
for potatoes and tobacco, has been decidedly discouraged ;
for it acts upon these crops more in the direction of quantity
than of quality. It is, however, highly recommended for
meadows, for pasture lands, and for all kinds of forage and
grain-crops, particularly when applied in connection with
phosphates.

The relative agricultural value of both series of compounds,
chlorides and sulphates, is also frequently, in an unusual
degree, modified in consequence of the presence of larger or
smaller quantities of certain saline compounds, which are found
associated with them in the mines. Most prominent among
these are sodium chloride (common salt), magnesium chloride
and magnesium sulphate. The presence of magnesium chlo-
ride, beyond mere traces, is decidedly objectionable ; for its
action on plant-growth in general is known to be destruc-
tive ; it favors also the transformation of the lime into calcium
chloride, and thus assists in sending this valuable soil con-
stituent into the drainage waters. A large admixture of com-
mon salt — some of these fertilizers contain from 40 to 45 per
cent. — renders them unprofitable for the cultivation of some
of the most important industrial crops (for instance, tobacco).

As the higher grades of the potash fertilizers are the
results of a careful process of manufacture, which aims at
the entire or partial exclusion of both common salt and mag-
nesium chloride, they are the preferable, because safer,
articles for us. Quite different are the opinions regarding
an admixture of magnesia sulphate, for its presence is known
to increase, in most instances, their agricultural value.

Magnesia sulphate may act as a suitable absorber of
ammonia and of soluble phosphoric acid ; it will aid in a
rapid diffusion of the potash throughout the entire body of
the cultivated soil down to the lower strata, where the root-
crops and leguminous plants, as clover, etc., are mainly feed-
ing. Fertilizer No. VI., page 356, which contains from 52
to 56 per cent, of potassium sulphate, and from 30 to 38 per
cent, of magnesium sulphate, enjoys for this reason a superior

360

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

reputation for its fitness to cure root-sick and clover-sick
lands. Since we have learned that magnesia and sulphuric
acid count among those few substances which are essential for
a complete development of plants, it is but reasonable to
assume that the presence of magnesia sulphate must add an
increased value to a potash fertilizer, which contains that
compound in considerable proportion.

Professor Ville, in his important experiments at Vincennes,
with the growth of wheat, found in case the magnesia was not
added to his so-called complete fertilizer, that the latter
proved as inefficient as if phosphoric acid had been excluded.
The ash of wheat-grain contains 12 per cent, of magnesia to
23 per cent, of potassa. Potash fertilizers containing sulphates
of magnesia, are therefore considered of particular value for
the cultivation of grain-crops.

From the preceding short exposition, we can draw at
least some good hints regarding the particular kinds of potash
salts we ought to import.

Our dealers act in the best interest of their customers by
importing none but 80 per cent, containing muriate of potash,
and 40 to 50 per cent, containing sulphate of potassa ; the
former being equal to 50 per cent, of potassium oxide, the
latter to 25 per cent.* These compounds are the cheapest
of their kind, and answer the requirements of both general
and special farming.

The subsequent statements show what price farmers have
been paying during the past year, for one pound of potassium
oxide, when buying by the ton.

Name or Potassium Compound.

Percentage of
Potassium
Compound.

a

o

u
a.

Cost of lib. of
Potassium
Oxide.

New York, .

it

it

Sulphate of potassa, .
Sulphate of potassa, .
Muriate of potassa, .
Nitrate of potassa,

35
80
80
95

$30 00
90 00
65 00

165 00

$0 08
0 09 26
0 06.05
0 10

Note. — The nitrogen contained in the latter, is equal to 13 per cent.,
and counts 30 cents per pound, or $78 per ton of nitre.

* Our farmers do best, as a general rale, to ask for the higher grades of these fer-
tilizers, and to use the lower grades, if cheap, only for forage crops.

HOW THEY CHARGE US.

361

Ashk» from Lime-kilns.

Calcium oxide,
Magnesium oxide,
Potassium oxide, .
Phosphoric acid, .
Sulphuric acid,
Iron and alumina,
Silicates,
Carbonic acid,

38.03
1.80
0 03

t

11.09

9.66

* Trace.

t Not determined.

In the case of No. I., one bushel weighed 44 pounds and
was sold at 33^ cents, at the railroad depot.

In No. II., one bushel weighed 63 pounds and was sold at
35 cents, at the railroad depot.

One ton of No. I. contained 45 bushels.

One ton of No. II. contained 32 bushels.

One ton of No. I. contained 920 pounds of calcium oxide,
costing $15.24.

One ton of No. II. contained 760 pounds of calcium oxide,
costing $11.20.

One thousand pounds of calcium oxide in No. I. cost
$16.36.

One thousand pounds of calcium oxide in No. II. cost
$14.70.

Both articles are scarcely more valuable for agricultural
purposes than an air- slacked lime. The percentage of wood
ashes was but very small. Quicklime is sold in the same local-
ity where these lime ashes are used at $2.80 per barrel of 300
pounds, in case more than six barrels are bought in one lot.
Allowing 35 cents for each barrel, one ton of quicklime,
or about 1,800 pounds of calcium oxide, would cost in that
form $16.33.

Peruvian Guano.

Two samples of Guanape guano, taken at the storehouse of
C. L. Bartlett, in Boston, July 10, 1874, gave the following
results : —

46

3G2

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Phosphoric acid,
Nitrogen, .
Potassium oxide,
Sand, etc., .

15.90
7.23
1.80
1.60

Sample No. I. consisted of a light brown, loose pulveru-
lent mass interspersed with a yellowish-white granulated sub-
stance ; it lost at 100° C. 20.59 per cent, of its weight, and
left, after a careful calcination, 41.7 per cent, of ash constitu-
ents. Its actual ammonia amounted to 7.7 per cent, (equal
to 6.33 per cent, of nitrogen), leaving thus 1.83 per cent,
of nitrogen as potential ammonia (equal to 2.23 per cent, of
ammonia) ; 13.74 per cent, was soluble in a solution of citrate
ammonia (of 1.09 spec, grav.), leaving 3.98 per cent, undis-
solved. This guano proved thus to be a good quality of its
kind.

Sample No. II. formed a moist, lumpy, brown mass. It
had been somewhat damaged by water on board the vessel on
its way from New York. The bags containing it were more
or less covered with a yellowish-white incrustation ; they were
kept removed from the stock of the good quality and sold, it
was stated, at a lower price.

In treating on Peruvian guano, in my first report, I stated
that in a good quality of Guanape guano both nitrogen and
phosphoric acid were still sold at a lower rate than in most
other commercial fertilizers, 3ret I advised our formers to
bear in mind that inferior Peruvian guanos were by no means
of rare occurrence.

The following variations in the composition of Peruvian
guano have been kindly communicated from other important
markets of that article.

[From Charleston, S. C. : Professor C. TJ. Shepard, Jr., M. D.]

The Chincha guano has varied during the years 18G9 to
1873, as follows :—

VARIATIONS IN PERUVIAN GUANO.

363

Nitrogen, from

Phosphoric acid, "

Sand,

Moisture, "

14.43 per cent, to 9.14 per cent.
14.01 " " 10 30' "
15.91 " " 0.39
27.18 " " 11.03

Guanape guano, sold in the same city, was noticed to vary
during the same period as follows :

Nitrogen, from

Phosphoric acid, "
Sand, "

Moisture, "

12.88 per cent, to 8.20 per cent.
17.62 " " 10.77

3.75 " " 0.75 "
29.96 " " 11.83 "

[From Savannah, Ga. : Professor H. C. White, University of Georgia.]

The following results are stated to have been obtained in

1873:—

Chincha Guano.

Phosphoric acid, total,
Potassium oxide, .
Nitrogen,
Sand, .

4.16

0.54

5.43

21.53

6.28
0.72
6.34

18.72

These samples were represented as direct importations.

Guanape Guano — Received from the same city.

Highest
result.

Lowest
result.

Phosphoric acid, total,

Potassium oxide, .

Nitrogen,

Sand

1384
1.23

10.92
2.34

9.21

1.06

7.21

12.49

Still, my advice, which was based upon personal observa-
tion in previous years, it seems displeased the general agents
of the Peruvian government in New York city. They com-
plained in a letter to me concerning the following points :

First. I had mentioned, as an illustration of my assertion
regarding the existence of inferior Peruvian guano, the well-

364 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

known results of an inquiry of the New York State Agricult-
ural Society into the quality of that article sold in New York
city, whieh they had shown to have been due to an adultera-
tion of the genuine guano by a party in Brooklyn.

Second. I did not allow a valuation of the percentage of
potassium oxide which these guanos usually contain.

Third. I had asserted that their articles were liable to
suffer from moisture, and also from long storing.

As these points were quite seriously treated in the commu-
nication which I received, I feel obliged to make here some
explanatory remarks regarding the stand-point I had chosen.
In my report I referred, in a general way, to inferior guanos ;
I did not distinguish between a genuine inferior article and an
adulterated genuine one ; I told farmers simply to be on their
guard. The fact that a fraudulent practice had been carried
on in Brooklyn for years, and was discovered only in con-
sequence of a mere accidental transaction, cannot but ren-
der my advice judicious. A small percentage of potassium
oxide — reaching in many cases scarcely more than 1.5 per
cent. — does not affect the general character of the Peruvian
guano, from an agricultural stand-point;* while the omis-
sion of a valuation is more than compensated for by a liberal
uniform price accorded to the entire amount of phosphoric
acid present. The possibility of an access of moisture to the
guano finds a new confirmation in the above sample No. II.
A possible deterioration of a genuine Peruvian guano in con-
sequence of a long storing is too well recognized to admit of any
doubt. The constant evaporation of ammonia — however small
during a short period of keeping — becomes a serious feature
when the time of storing can be counted by years.

A late circular from the office of the general agents in New
York, dated April, 1874, informs us that most cargoes on
hand arrived in the country about three years previous to the
date given.

In repeating here my former advice to our farmers, I do not
intend to accuse Messrs. Hobson, Hurtado & Co. of any design
on their part to take advantage of their customers ; I have their
assurance that they hail any measure which promises to place

* Professor H. C. White, of Athens, Ga., states his highest result (in 1873) to have
been 1.23 per cent., and the lowest 0.54 per cent, of potassium oxide.

AFRAID OF THE TEST. 3G5

the sale of fertilizers on the basis of their real worth. They
recognize the propriety of selling those articles by a chemical
analysis, and are willing to fulfil their obligation as far as
practicable ; yet they feel some doubt regarding an entire
success on their part, on account of their present peculiar
situation. Their position regarding a strict compliance with
our law for the regulation of the fertilizer trade is, it is true,
an unfavorable one, and will remain thus as long as the Peru-
vian government insists upon the privilege of selling its
guanos without a satisfactory responsibility concerning the
chemical composition of the article sold. The only conces-
sions which that government thus far has made toward its
complaining customers are, — judging from late responsible
publications, — that all countries shall be treated alike, and that
the contents of every cargo shall be mixed before being
packed and shipped. It refuses still to sell the guanos by a
standard analysis, which is generally recognized as being the
only practicable way to avoid just complaints. The price of
each kind of guano is usually decided on for years, although
it is well known that the successive layers of the same deposit
are liable to vary in a remarkable degree. The exist-
ence of these variations has been rendered quite prominent
for years past, wherever the trade in fertilizers has been sub-
jected to a careful control by chemical analysis. I could fur-
nish, if needed, sufficient evidence on that point from home
observations.

Whilst thus recognizing the exceptional position of our
dealers in Peruvian guano, it seems to me essential that some
mode of operation should be adopted which would enable them,
without any particular pecuniary sacrifice, to comply with the
requirements of our law ; namely, to sell with reference to a
guaranteed chemical composition, and thereby secure to them-
selves that liberal share of the trade in fertilizers to which a
good Peruvian guano is so eminently entitled.

The European agents of the Peruvian government have
been obliged, in the interest of their trade, to furnish their
customers, of their own accord, a guano of a uniform compo-
sition, by subjecting the imported raw material to a chemical
treatment. The general satisfaction which this course has

366 BOAKD OF AGRICULTURE.

given throughout Europe will be noticed from the copies of
two busiuess circulars but recently published.

A. — Circular of Messrs. Dreyfus, Freres & Co., of Paris.

[These gentlemen are the sole contractors for the sale of
Peruvian guano in Europe and its colonies.]

"We announce hereby that we have secured, in consequence of an
arrangement between the Peruvian government and ourselves, the
sole right of rendering the Peruvian guano soluble by means of
sulphuric acid.

" This arrangement has been made, partly on account of the many
complaints concerning the moist and dough-like condition of the
lately imported cargoes of guano, partly to render it possible for us
to comply with the general and just demand of our customers to
furnish the Peruvian guano with a guarantee of a definite composi-
tion. Our process removes the lumps usually found in the raw
guano, changing them into a dry, pulverulent mass ; it combines
the nitrogen in a suitable form, preventing thereby its evaporation ;
it renders the insoluble phosporic acid present, soluble ; and thus
enables us to guarantee a definite composition, a result impossible
in case of the raw guano. We believe that the agriculturists of
Europe will be pleased with our arrangements, by which we are able
to offer everywhere in Europe, besides the raw imported guano, also
a dissolved guano of a uniform state of composition, and with a
guaranteed percentage of nitrogen and phosphoric acid.

" The manufacture of the dissolved guano will be carried on by
Messrs. Olendorff & Co., of Hamburg, whose process was introduced
many years ago into German}', where it has since been crowned
with the most satisfactory results. These gentlemen will manage
the entire operation throughout Europe and the colonies. They
have already large establishments in Hamburg, Emmerich on Rhine,
Antwerp and London, and are preparing for the erection of similar
accommodations in France. The sale of the dissolved guano will
be everywhere attended to b}T those of our agents who sell the raw
Peruvian guano."

B. — Circular of Messrs. Olendorff & Co., of Hamburg.

These gentlemen are the sole importers of Peruvian guano
for Germany, Austria and Northern Europe ; they are also,
as has been seen from the previous statements, the sole man-
agers of the manufacture of the "Dissolved Guano."

DEMAND THE GUARANTEES. 367

" We furnish raw Peruvian guano in the same condition as it
arrives from the islands, and cannot accept complaints regarding its
quality after the article has left our warehouse. We guarantee, on
the other hand, in the case of the dissolved guano, which we furnish
in form of a powder, fit for immediate application, until otherwise
stated, —

" Nitrogen, protected against evaporation, from 8 to 9 per cent.

"Phosphoric acid, readily soluble in water, from 9 to 10 percent.

" We promise also to compensate for any difference below the
lowest figures stated. In the latter case, we reserve, however, to
ourselves the privilege of counting any possible excess of phosphoric
acid with its market value, for a possible deficiency in nitrogen, —
applying the same principle of adjustment of the commercial value
under a reverse condition."

These two circulars (A and B) need no farther explana-
tion ; they tell us plainly that in Europe the variations in the
composition of the raw Peruvian guano have been of late
rather the rule than the exception, a fact that deserves our
particular attention when we consider that the Peruvian gov-
ernment has declared that all its customers shall be treated
alike.

To decide upon the price of an article without any guarantee
of a definite composition, — with no particular responsibility
for compensation, — is, to say the least, a peculiar attitude on
the part of any dealer, and would not be recognized as satis-
factory in any other branch of business. The Royal Agricult-
ural Society of England has but recently addressed a petition
to the foreign secretary of the royal ministry, asking him to
use his influence in the interest of a better management of the
trade in Peruvian guano, and to convince the Peruvian gov-
ernment of the propriety of adopting a standard analysis of
the guano offered for sale, as the basis of its transactions in
that article. The successful introduction of the rules pre-
scribed by our law for the regulation of the trade in fertilizers,
renders it necessary that our dealers in Peruvian guano, like
those dealing in other fertilizers, should be required to give
a specified statement of the essential constituents (phosphoric
acid and nitrogen) of the articles which they send into our
market, and to recognize thereby a corresponding responsi-
bility for their sales.

3G8 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

An indorsement of this view on the part of the State Board
of Agriculture seems to, be very desirable, if for no other
reason than that regarding the peculiar aspect of the future
supply of Peruvian guano. A few statements taken from
recent publications treating on that point, as far as the quan-
tity and the quality of the remaining resources of the Peruvian
guano are concerned, may serve here as an illustration. In
this connection, of particular importance on account of its
apparent official character, is the late communication of P.
Galvez, the Peruvian ambassador in London (1872-3). The
writer claims in his report, that the Peruvian government, in
consequence of a recent careful investigation of its dominion,
has established the existence of from forty to forty-five local-
ities, containing still more or less extensive deposits of guano
fit for exportation. Among these seem to be of particular
interest : —

Balria de Chipana. — Large deposits surrounding the sum-
mits of the Chipana ; they are valued at 89,500 cubic
metres.*

Islotes de los Pajaros. — These islands are, at present, very
frequently visited by sea-birds, seals, etc., and for this reason
also contain deposits of fresh excretions, known by the name
of guano blanca.

Punta de Lobos 6 blanca. — The deposits found here are
quite extensive, and similar in character to those upon the
Chincha Islands of former years ; they amount to about
1,601,000 cubic metres.

Pabellon de Pica. — These deposits have thus far supplied
the extensive home demand for guano, yet considerable quan-
tities are still left, — about 5,000,000 cubic metres.

Punta de Pataclie. — Here are several deposits, valued at
125,000 cubic metres.

Ensenada de Chiquinaha. — The entire surface is covered
by deposits of guano, similar to those upon Punta de Lobos 6
blanca ; yet a layer of a calcareous sand rests upon the guauo
deposit.

Caleta de Mejillones. — The plateaus of the rocks, as well
as the depressions, contain moderately thick guano deposits.

Islad de la Viejas. — Contains large deposits.

* One cubic metre usually averages about 2,000 pounds, or one short ton.

THE GUANO ISLANDS. 369

Balda de la Independencia. — Here is one of the largest
deposits not yet opened.

Isla e islote de Ballesta. — Contains large quantities.
Isla Blanca. — Contains large quantities.
Isla Mashorca. — Contains large quantities.
Islas de Guanape. — These islands contain quite extensive
deposits ; they furnish, at present, our main supply.

Isla de Macabi. — The southern portion of this island is
entirly covered with guano, whilst the northern section con-
tains isolated or detached deposits.

Islas de Lobos de Afuera. — The deposits are here thick,
extensive and numerous.

Islas de Lobos de Tierra. — Contain also large, valuable
deposits.

Islas de Chincha. — These three islands have for thirty
years past furnished the main supply for exportation ; they
contain at present but small quantities.

As the exact configuration of the grounds which are covered
by deep layers of guano must remain, even in case of a care-
ful measurement, somewhat uncertain, it is but natural that all
numerical valuations hitherto published regarding the amount
of guano present have been merely approximations. The
actual yield has exceeded, in every instance almost, the
amount previously stated. The deposits upon the Chiuchas
were stated, in 1853, by Elias, to be only sufficient for a
demand of eight years more ; they lasted, however, for
eighteen years more. Davis reported, in 1862, the extent of
guano deposits upon the Guanape and Macabi islands equal
to two and one-fourth millions tons ; their present condition
indicates that twice the amount is nearer the truth. It seems
thus safe to assume, judging from these results in regard to
the remaining localities previously enumerated, that the
Peruvian government will be able, for many years to come,
to supply its customers, at the present rate of demand, with
guano.

Our prospects in regard to the uniform quality of our future
supply of Peruvian guano are less satisfactory. The well-
known difference in composition between the former Chincha
and the present Guanape guano demonstrates plainly the pos-
sibility of serious variations regarding the value, commercial
47

370

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

and agricultural, of Peruvian guano from different deposits.
The comparatively limited extent of many still existing
deposits designed for exportation cannot but tend to increase
our risks.

A late number of the "Agricultural Gazette" (July 4,
1874), of England, contains Prof. Voelcker's analyses of
thirteen authenticated samples of Peruvian guano sent by Mr.
Thierry, who measured the deposits referred to below, to the
Royal Admiralty. These samples were taken from the upper
middle and lower layers of the guano deposits upon the
islands Huanillos,* Punta de Lobos and Pabellon de Pica
(page 368) ; they shoAved the following remarkable features
and variations in composition : —

Constituents.

Pabellon de Pica.

Punta de Lobos.

H

uanillos.

Nitrogen,

From 6.60 to 15.1

From 2.6 to 10.0

From

6.7 to 10.4

Soluble phos- "\
phoric acid, J

1.70 " 3.5

0.4 " 3.2

i<

1.4 " 5.3

Insolu. phos- \
phoric acid, /

" 11.70 " 15.3

" 10.9 " 15.3

«

12.9 " 16.6

Nitric acid, .

0.00 " 1.2

0.3 " 3.5

U

0.4 " 2.9

Sand, .

1.60 " 9.6

1.4 " 27.9

t(

2.6 " 5.9

Water, .

3.20 " 9.2

4.8 " 14.5

l(

8.2 " 15.4

Alkaline salts ^

•

mainly so- !
dium chlo- [

9.00 " 23.0

" _ u 27.0

"

16.0 " 26.0

ride, . . J

The variations are so remarkable in these instances, that the
most careful assortment only can produce from these deposits
a guano of an approximate uniform value. How far this
result may be accomplished depends entirely, in our present
mode of buying and selling the original packages, on the
management of the home employes of the Peruvian govern-
ment. In sight of this fact, it seems but judicious to consider
whether the plan adopted in Europe would not work well
with us, and to suggest to Messrs. Hobson, Hurtado & Co.
the propriety of similar accommodations for their numerous
customers.

To obtain reliable information regarding; the "dissolved

* These deposits have been valued at 700,000 cubic metres.

DISSOLVED PERUVIAN FISH GUANO. 371

Peruvian guano," I addressed, a few months ago, a letter to
Messrs. Olendorff & Co., of Hamburg, asking for a sample
of that article. They kindly sent me one pound of it, with
numerous statements from leading agriculturists regarding its
superior efficacy as compared with the raw "Peruvian guano."
I subjected that sample to a careful chemical analysis, and
obtained the following results : —

Total phosphoric acid, ....

11.05 parts

Total nitrogen, .....

. 10.45 "

Phosphoric acid soluble in water,

. 8.32 "

Actual ammonia, .....

7.98 "

Potassium oxide, .....

. 2.13 "

The mechanical condition was excellent ; it formed a pul-
verulent mass of brown color, fit for immediate application.

The chemical composition, as shown in the above analysis,
leaves no doubt about the question that the " dissolved Peru-
vian guano " can claim one of the foremost positions among
our commercial nitrogenous-phosphatic fertilizers. The article
sells at an advance of from $4 to $5 per ton above the ruling
price of raw guano.

Fish Scraps and Fish Guano.
The manufacturers of menhaden oil and fish guano, of
Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Long
Island and New Jersey, have formed during the past year —
January 7, 1874 — an association for the promotion of their
mutual interests, called "The United States Menhaden Oil
and Guano Association." Their business has been increasing
as compared with the preceding year ; a fact which may be
noticed from the following recently-published record of the
association : —

Barrels.

Fish caught in 1874, 1,478,634

in 1873, 1,193,100

One barrel contains, on average, 250 fish.

Tons.

Amount of fish guano made in 1874, . . . 50,976

in 1873, . . . 36,299

Increase in 1874 over 1873, .... 14,677

372

BOAED OF AGRICULTURE.

Oil manufactured in 1874, ....
in 1873, .

Gallons.

. 3,372,837
. 2,214,800

Oil on hand at the close of 1874,
" of 1873,

Gallons.

640,000
484,520

Guano on hand at the close of 1874, .

of 1873, .

Tons.

5,200
2,700

Fishermen employed in 1874, . . . ,
in 1873, .

Number.

1,567
1,197

Men employed at the factories in 1874,
" " " in 1873,

. 871
. 1,109

Sailing-vessels employed in 1874,
» " " in 1873,

. 283
. 283

Steamers employed in 1874,

in 1873, .

25

20

Factories employed in 1874,

" in 1873, .

64
62

Total amount of capital invested in the business :

In 1874, $2,500,000

In 1873, 2,388,000

"During the past season a foreign market has been opened
for fish guano, and vessels are now taking in cargoes within
the State of Maine for Liverpool." No analyses of fish guano
and scraps have been made during the past year, on account
of the doubts I entertained whether these articles are to be
considered manufactured fertilizers, and are thus subject to
the law for examination.

The decision of this question has been reserved for the
opinion of the Board at their present meeting.

NAVASSA ISLAND PHOSPHATES. 373

Navassa Phosphate.

This mineral phosphate, which has been imported since
1856, occurs in large quantities upon Navassa, a small coral
island, about thirty-three miles to the south-west of Hayti,
and seventy-two miles to the east of Jamaica.* The Navassa
phosphate furnishes, in common with the South Carolina
phosphate, at present, to a large degree, the crude stock for
the manufacture of superphosphates for the Southern trade.
As it is used to some extent, and in part for similar purposes,
in a large factory within the vicinity of Boston, I secured
samples from the office of the Navassa Phosphate Company,
at Baltimore, Md., with the intention to study, by personal
observation, their properties.

One portion of them consisted of pieces from three to four
inches long, and several inches wide ; the rest formed a
granular mass, the grains being of various sizes and of a dif-
ferent degree of hardness. Both kinds varied in color from
white to red brown ; evidently due to a varying percentage of
sesquioxide of iron in a combined and an uncombined state.

The material which in the larger pieces serves as a cement
of the conglomerate, is apparently richer in phosphoric acid
than the main bulk of the grauular mass. Numerous analyses
state the average percentage of phosphoric acid in the Na-
vassa phosphate to be from 32 to 34 per cent. The sample
which I tested gave the following : —

Loss by calcination, . . . . .9.60 parts.

Insoluble in hydrochloric acid, . . . 2.70 "

Insoluble phosphoric acid, .... 34.09 "

Calcium oxide, 37.67 "

Sesquioxide of iron, ..... 8.75 "

Alumina, ....... 4.24 "

The Navassa Phosphate Company offers 2,240 pounds for
$14, in cases of entire cargoes, direct from the island; the
same amount, in a finely-ground state, sells at $17.50 in Bal-
timore, and at $18 in New York. Their phosphate is one of
the richest mineral phosphates at present in our markets. Its

* Memoir on the Island of Navassa, by Eugene Gaussoin. Baltimore, Md., 1866.

374 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

economical application for the manufacture of superphos-
phates,— as far as the quantity of sulphuric acid required is
concerned, — suffers somewhat on account of the presence of
from 10 to 15 per cent, of alumina and sesquioxide of iron,
besides of from 2.5 to 5 per cent, of carbonate of lime. It
compares, however, favorably for that purpose with the Som-
brero, Maiden, Jarvis, South Carolina phosphates, and most
Apatites ; yet it is less valuable than the Baker Island phos-
phate of former days, and the Mejillones guano of Chili and
Bolivia of a more recent date.

Most mineral phosphates contain the main portion of their
phosphoric acid in the form of bone-phosphate, or tricalcic
phosphate. One hundred parts of this compound, — consist-
ing of 54.19 per cent, of lime and 45.81 per cent, of phos-
phoric acid, — require 63 per cent, of sulphuric acid of 1.72
specific gravity, 60° Beaume, or 51.6 per cent, of anhydride
of sulphuric acid, to render its phosphoric acid (as monocalcic
phosphate) soluble in water. In multiplying, therefore,
merely the percentage of bone-phosphate contained in any of
them, by 0.63, we learn the amount of sulphuric acid (of 1.72
specific gravity) necessary to render its entire amount of
phosphoric acid soluble in water ; provided they contain no
other constituents, which are acted upon by the former.
Every one of the above-named phosphates contains, however,
more or less of either carbonate of lime and magnesia, or of
alumina and oxide of iron, or of both ; and as these substances,
without exception, combine sooner or later with sulphuric
acid, more or less of the bone-phosphate remains unchanged,
and a superphosphate with less soluble phosphoric acid than
counted on is obtained.

To secure, in cases like these, the entire amount of phos-
phoric acid in a soluble form, requires thus a larger quantity of
sulphuric acid than the decomposition of the bone-phosphate
alone would consume, which in turn causes increased expense,
and thus a more costly phosphoric acid. For instance : as
carbonate of lime is readily changed into sulphate of lime,
one part of carbonate of lime combining for that purpose with
1.16 parts of sulphuric acid of the above-stated strength (1.72
specific gravity) , we know that any natural bone-phosphate,
which contains an admixture of 5 per cent, of carbonate of

MINERAL PHOSPHATES. 375

lime, will require five times 1.16 parts, or 5.8 parts, more of
sulphuric acid than those which contain none, to render the
entire amount of phosphoric acid soluble. Some otherwise
very valuable mineral phosphates, as the Sombrero guano,
etc., have proved unprofitable for the manufacture of super-
phosphates, on account of the frequency of a large admixture
of carbonate of lime.

A more serious feature, however, regarding the application
of some mineral phosphates for the latter purpose consists in
the fact, that in most cases it becomes impracticable to apply
the entire (theoretical) amount of sulphuric acid required to
change all the lime, alumina and iron present into sulphates;
for the latter render the product not only moist and hygro-
scopic, but they are also little qualified for a speedy action on
the acid, which tends to leave part of the sulphuric acid, for
some time, at least, in a free state. To escape these incon-
veniences, less acid is usually used than needed to render the
entire amount of phosphoric acid present soluble ; unde-
composed bone-phosphates and uncombiued alumina and
sesquioxide of iron, are thus common constituents of super-
phosphates, which are but recently manufactured from min-
eral phosphates ; and as these substances act, in the course of
time, quite seriously on the soluble phosphoric acid, by
changing it in part into a less valuable form, — so-called
"reduced" phosphoric acid, — the cheapest one of two mineral
phosphates containing an equal percentage of bone-phosphate,
may thus prove to be not always the most economical material
to work into superphosphates.

To derive the full benefit of the comparative cheapness of
the mineral phosphates for the manufacture of superphos-
phates, requires considerable skill, and some familiarity with
chemistry. Large establishments for the manufacture of
standard superphosphates, can, for this reason, make no
better investment than to put their factory under the super-
vision of a good chemist.

The following tabular statements may convey some idea
regarding the price paid for the various bone-phosphates,
which enter, at present, into the manufacture of our home-
made superphosphates : —

376

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Name or Phosphate.

;ntage of
e phos-
te.

per ton
,000 lbs.

of 1 lb.
nsoluble
sphoric

a.

S .0 p.

Ph

m '- ■O °8

Charleston, .

South Carolina, .

54.56

$7 50

$0 1.5

Boston, .

u

54.56

11 50

2.3

New York, .

" ground, .
Navassa, ground,

54.56
65.70

13 50
16 00

2.7
2.6

Boston, .

Bone-black waste,

72.75

25 00

3.7

u

Ground bones,* .

53.54

40 00

4.0

* The average composition of ground bones is assumed to be equal to 24 per cent, of phos-
phoric acid, besides 3.5 per cent, of nitrogen in animal matter at 30 cents per pound.

The present low price of phosphoric acid in some of these
mineral phosphates deserves the particular attention of those
of our farmers who aim at a permanent improvement of their
soil resources. These phosphates act, of course, very slowly
under ordinary circumstances ; yet in form of a fine powder
they pay well, if applied with a due consideration of the causes
which favor their solubility. As carbonic acid acts powerfully
on the disintegration and final solution of all kinds of phos-
phates, it is but reasonable to assume that satisfactory results
may be secured by incorporating daily a certain amount of
finely-ground phosphates — as South Carolina, Navassa, or
Sombrero guano, even apatite, etc. — into barn-yard manure, or
by composting them in the earlier part of the year and apply-
ing in the fall upon meadows and pasture-lands, or upon soils
rich in humus. These phosphates, in their finely-divided
condition, are apparently in no less suitable form for assimi-
lation than a large proportion of the original phosphoric acid
in the cultivated soil at times has been ; they increase the
stock of that acid for future crops at a small expense. We
are too much inclined to judge the entire agricultural value of
a fertilizer merely by the crops we chance to get in the first
or second year, and forget too frequently that the condition
in which the soil is left after the crops have been removed
ought to enter as a very important factor in the final calcula-
tion of profit derived from the use of a fertilizer. Numerous
experiments of German agriculturists with their native "phos-
phorites" leave no doubt regarding the good economy of

SUGAK-HOUSE BONE-BLACK. 377

applying finely-ground mineral phosphates as previously
specified.

Bone-black Waste.

This sample was bought of a Boston dealer, and consisted
of a very fine, dry powder; it contained 36.2 per cent., or
724 pounds of phosphoric acid per ton.

Taking its wholesale price at $25 to $30 per ton, it is not
only one of the best but also one of the cheaper materials
for the manufacture of superphosphates. The above sample
of bone-black is, in all probability, the fine dust produced in
the preparation of granulated bone-black, from burnt bones,
for the use of sugar-refiners. Its supply is very limited.
The larger bulk of bone-black waste used for fertilizers comes
from sugar-houses, and consists of the daily waste resulting
from the screening of the reburnt bone-black. As the latter
has passed through repeated calcinations, in consequence of
a repeated use for the decoloration of sugar solutions, it is
frequently not only strongly impregnated with gypsum and
other mineral matters, but also very compact; it contains
usually from 32 to 34 per cent, of phosphoric acid, and, for
obvious reasons, ought only to be used in form of a super-
phosphate.

Ground Bones.
I. — Ground Bones of the Cumberland Co. (Portland, Me.).

8.18 parts.

Moisture at 100° C,
Moisture and organic matter,
Ash constituents, .
Phosphoric acid, in ash, .
Nitrogen in animal matter,

444.2 pounds insoluble phosphoric acid, .
90.8 " nitrogen, ....

$53 90

It was a coarsely-ground article, resembling in size that
which is sold commonly as chicken-bone ; it sold at $40 per
ton.

48

47.11 "

52.89 "

22.21 «

4.54 "

Valuation per ton.

. $26 66

. 27 24

378

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

II. Fine Bones for Fertilizer (of L. B. Darling, Pawtucket, R. I.).

Moisture and organic matter,
Ash constituents, .
Phosphoric acid in ash,
Nitrogen in organic matter,

38.50

61.50

25.97

4.07

42.75

57.25

24.60

4.68

Valuation per ton (average of both analyses) ,
492.0 lbs. insoluble phosphoric acid, .
93.6 " nitrogen in animal matter,

$29 52
28 08

$57 60

The article was a finer ground size than No. I., and sold at
$50 per ton in the retail trade ; its quality, judging from the
analytical results, is that of good average composition.

III. — Coarse-ground Bones (of L. B. Darling).

Moisture and organic matter,
Ash constituents, .

43.80 parts.
56.20 "

IV. — Chicken-Bones (of L. B. Darling).

Moisture and organic matter,
Ash constituents, .

41.00 parts.
59.00 "

V. — Bonemeal for Cattle (of L. B. Darling) .

Moisture and organic matter,
Ash constituents, .

42.60 parts.
57.40 "

The ground bones maintain deservedly a most prominent
position among our nitrogenous-phosphatic fertilizers, and
will retain it with good reason as long as many of our ammo-
niated superphosphates contain their present low percentage
of nitrogen. It is true, the ground bones of our market con-
tain but rarely their original amount of nitrogenous matter,
on account of the steaming and rendering process they are
subjected to, as a general rule, before being ground into fer-
tilizers ; yet they still contain from 2.5 to 4 per cent, of nitro-

GROUND BONES AS FERTILIZERS. 379

gen, which is more than is claimed in most of the ammoniated
superphosphates. This fact finds its explanation in the cir-
cumstance that the softer bones, those that contain the largest
proportion of nitrogenous matter, are mainly used for fertiliz-
ing purposes. The harder bones bring a better price in other
branches of industry. The reduction in value which the ren-
dered bones suffer — in consequence of a partial abstraction of
nitrogenous matter — is, to some extent, at least, compensated
for by the softening and disintegration of the bone-phosphate,
and thus improved solubility of the phosphoric acid. To
abstract the fat from the bones before they are worked into
fertilizers is not only good economy, but the absence of fat
tends to hasten their solution under the influence of moisture
and carbonic acid. As each manufacturer is apt to follow his
own notion about rendering the bones, — there are cases on
record in which the nitrogen has been noticed as low as from
1 to 2 per cent, and the phosphoric acid as high as 28 per
cent., — it becomes essential that each establishment should
state, within proper limits, the guaranteed. composition of its
own articles. Whenever the percentage of nitrogenous matter
becomes low in ground bones, they act more slowly on the
crops than otherwise. For this reason, it is quite judicious to
compost them for some weeks, under proper precaution, with
some organic matter, before they are used. Good authorities
recommend adding an equal volume of sawdust, or, what is
still better, horse or sheep dung, and keeping the mixture for
a few weeks in a moist state fit for fermentation, within a
sheltered place, after covering it carefully with a layer of
earth of from four to five inches in thickness.

Whenever a special application of phosphates is desirable,
this course no doubt deserves a recommendation. In general
farm management, good results will be secured by incorporat-
ing gradually a certain amount directly into barnyard
manure.

Next to chemical composition, ought their mechanical con-
dition to be considered. The finer ground bones give sooner
good results, and thus return the best interest on the invest-
ment ; they sell, according to the fineness of granulation, from
$35 to $50 per ton in the retail trade.

380

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Animal Dust.

I. — Brighton Abattoir.
The sample which served for my examination was collected
during the latter part of August, 1874, at the storehouse of
an exteusive dealer in fertilizers at Greenfield, Mass.

Moisture and organic matter, .
Ash constituents, ....
Total phosphoric acid in ash, .
Nitrogen in animal matter,
Potassium oxide, ....

202.8 pounds insoluble phosphoric acid,
58.4 <

97.2
10.2 <

. 65.34 parts.

. 34.66 "

. 13.05 "

. 4.86 "

. 0.51 "

Valuation per ton.

. $12 07
phosphoric acid soluble in citrate of

ammonia, . . . . 7 70

nitrogen, . . . . . . 29 16

potassium oxide, . . . 0 82

$48 85

This article sold, according to a statement in the circular
from tbe factory, at $47 per ton, and belongs, consequently,
— adopting our scale of valuation, — to the better class of com-
mercial fertilizers. Comparing, however, the above sample
of the Brighton animal dust of 1874, with those mentioned
in my previous report, —

Brighton Animal Dust, 1873.

Moisture and organic matter,
Ash constituents, .
Nitrogen in animal matter, .
Phosphoric acid in ash,

79.66

20.34

7.14

8.76

we notice a remarkable variation in the composition of that
fertilizer; for phosphoric acid varies from 8.76 per cent, to
13.0 per cent., and nitrogen from 4.86 per cent, to 7.14 per
cent. Although it has been shown that the Brighton fertil-
izer, tested in 1874, was worth, comparatively speaking, the
price asked for it, it is not less plain that it has suffered in

BRIGHTON ANIMAL DUST. 381

consequence of a change in composition, a depreciation in its
value of from $8 to $9 per ton, when compared with that of the
preceding year. Judging from personal observation, I am
inclined to believe that the unusual extremes noticed in its
composition are mainly due to the want of a proper appre-
ciation of the effects which an addition of more or less of the
various ingredients — meat-scraps, blood and bones — exert on
the peculiar character of the final results.

The circular issued by the manufacturers at the abattoir
claims a composition of 7.14 per cent, of nitrogen, and 8.75
per cent, of phosphoric acid; my last analysis (1874) shows
that the sample tested contained 4.86 per cent, of nitrogen,
and 13.05 per cent, of phosphoric acid. To sell the latter in
place of the former, without due notice, is a violation of sec-
tion 3 of the new law for the regulation of the trade in
commercial fertilizers, which obliges all manufacturers to
state what they sell and sell what they state. Whatever view
we may take in regard to the commercial aspect of the case,
we feel obliged to object to proceedings of this kind from an
agricultural standpoint. Animal fertilizers, like the repre-
sented animal dust, fish, etc., form a distinct class on account
of their high percentage of nitrogen ; they are considered fit
substitutes for Peruvian guano, and are used for similar reasons.
The sample which I tested lately comes, in its composition,
nearer to that of ground bones. Blood, meat-scraps and
bones are no doubt each one valuable for manuring purposes ;
yet the two former can no more perform the fuuction of the
latter than salt that of sugar.

Manufacturers of fertilizers ought to take into considera-
tion that the articles they offer for sale have not only a
commercial, but also a peculiar agricultural value ; and that
the latter is independent of the former, for both are deter-
mined by a quite different standard. The commercial value
depends, here as elsewhere, on the relation of demand and
supply in the general market, and is controlled by competi-
tion. The agricultural value depends on its peculiar crop-
producing quality, and is determined by the judicious
application of the farmer. A shovelful of lime may do
more good, under certain circumstances, than several times
its weight of the more costly dried blood. The commercial

382

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

value of a fertilizer is not necessarily altered by a change in
the relative proportion of its constituents ; its peculiar agri-
cultural value always is ; for each of its essential ingredients,
as potassa, phosphoric acid, nitrogen, etc., has a function of
its own ; they are, it is true, equally indispensable for plant-
growth, yet they cannot substitute each other. The most
important information which the farmer needs, to secure to
himself the full agricultural value of any commercial fertilizer
offered for sale, consists in knowing the exact kind, the
amount and the chemical and physical condition of the essen-
tial articles of plant-food it contains ; without it, a rational
system of manuring becomes impossible. Commercial fertil-
izers are too expensive to be used without a careful consider-
ation as to whether they will bring speedy returns or not.
The time when fertilizers and refuse-matter meant the same
thing has passed by.

The surest way to establish a reputation for a well-prepared
fertilizer, which contains one or more of the essential articles
of plant- food, — next to a reasonable price, — is to furnish it of
a uniform composition. Reliable standard fertilizers are
needed in the interest of a rational system of manuring and
of a good economy. As soon as they are becoming of a
changeable character, it is safer for the farmer to buy the
crude stock and compound the materials he wishes to use.

Superphosphates and Ammoxiated Superphosphates.
I. Enoch Coe's XX.

Repre-

Found.

sented.

10.78

11.78

Soluble " "

9.13

9.05

-

2.11

1.65

0.62

2.28

2.16

Valuation per ton, —

$29 41

-42.20 " reduced " "

, .

5 57

0 75

12 96

$48 69

VALUATION OF SUPERPHOSPHATES. 383

II. Enoch Coe's XXX.

Repre-
sented.

Found.

Total phosphoric acid,

Soluble " "

Reduced " "

Insoluble " "

Nitrogen,

Potassium oxide,

11.47
9.87

1.60
2.44
3.00

10.37
9.60
.63
1.09
2.23
2.77

Valuation per ton, —

192.00 lbs. soluble phosphoric acid,

12.60 " reduced " "

21.80 " insoluble " "

44.60 " nitrogen,

55.40 " potassium oxide,

$31 30

1 66

1 30

13 38

4 44

$52 09

III. Cumberland Co. Superphosphates.

Repre-
sented.*

Found.

Total phosphoric acid,

Soluble " "

Reduced " " \

Insoluble " " /

Nitrogen,

13.0

7.0

6.0
0.81

13.06

5.57

f 5.46

\ 2.03

1.61

Valuation per ton, —

109.2 " reduced " "

40.6 " insoluble " "

$18 10

14 25

2 44

9 60

f44 39

* The represented amount applies to the lowest percentage guaranteed.

384

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

IV. George Upton's Ammoniated Superphosphates.

Repre-
sented.

Found.

Total phosphoric acid, ....
Soluble " " ....
Reduced " " ....
Insoluble " " ....
Nitrogen,

: :}

17.0
12.0

5.0

2.47

18.35

11.32

/ 4.92

\ 2.11

1.81

Valuation per ton, —

98.4 " reduced " "
42.2 " insoluble " "

•

•

$36 89

12 98

2 53

10 86

$63 26

V. Manhattan Co. Blood Guano.

Repre-
sented.

Found.

Total phosphoric acid,

Soluble " "

Reduced " " "\

Insoluble " " /

Nitrogen,

Potassium oxide and sodium oxide, ....

11.0

7.0

4.0

2.47
4.0

11.94

6.12

/ 1.28

\ 4.52

2.58

0.35

Valuation per ton, —

122.4 lbs. soluble phosphoric acid,

25.6 " reduced, " "

90.4 " insoluble " "

51.6 " nitrogen,

7.02 " potassium oxide,

$19 89

3 27

5 40

15 48

57

$44 61

THE SUMMING UP.

385

VI. Forrester's Potato-Grower (New York City) .

Repre-
sented.

Moisture and organic matter,
Ash constituents, .
Total phosphoric acid,
Soluble " " .

Insoluble " " .

Nitrogen,
Potassium oxide, .

5.07

4.50

.57

2.06

11.50

48.70
51.30
5.06
4.40
0.66
2.08
9.55

Valuation per ton, —
88.20 lbs. soluble phosphoric acid,
13.24 " insoluble "
41.60 " nitrogen, .
191.00 " potassium oxide,

$14 33

1 74

12 48

15 28

$43 45

i.

ii.

in.

IV.

v.

VI.

|"l

H

a

03

3

o

ll^

w °

O »

-s » .

d

o

Essential Constituents.

noch Coe's
niated Sup
phate (XX

0> O

u ■§

•g H

O o

C P.

•3 s

1 a

a 1

eorge Upto
moniated
phosphate

5
| |

o o

1 o

a

H

o

O

a

a

Total phosphoric acid, .

11.78

11.37

13.06

18.35

1094

5.07

Soluble

9.05

9.60

5.57

11.32

6.12

4.41

Reduced " "

2.11

0.63

5.46

4.92

1.28

-

Insoluble " "

0.62

1.09

2.03

211

4.52

0.66

Nitrogen,

2.16

2.23

161

1.81

2.58

2.08

Potassium oxide, .

-

2.77

-

-

0.35

955

111 comparing the preceding analytical results with the com-
positions guaranteed by the manufacturers, we have to admit
that they agree pretty well. The samples tested are all, with
but one exception, of the usual low grade of our home-made
ammoniated superphosphates. Many of them sell at a much
higher price in the retail trade than a very liberal valuation of
their essential constituents seems to warrant ; a circumstance

49

386 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

which deserves the serious consideration of dealers as well as
farmers. There are apparently two causes in particular which
produce these unsatisfactory results ; namely : first, the course
pursued by the majority of farmers to secure their supply ;
and, second, the want of a proper discrimination on the part
of the manufacturer regarding the best means by which the
essential articles of their fertilizers may be furnished at the
lowest cost.

The prevailing practice among farmers to buy their fertil-
izers of sub-agents and on long credit increases invariably
their price per ton in a considerable degree. Middle-men
claim compensation, aud manufacturers cannot afford to sell
with a small profit and give besides a long credit.

Leading dealers in Boston and New York offer their stand-
ard fertilizers, which vary usually in composition, as follows :

Soluble phosphoric acid, . . from 7 to 10 per cent.

Insoluble " " . " 4 to 3
Ammonia (2.06 to 249 per cent.

of nitrogen), . * . . " 2.5 to 3

at from $35 to $38 per ton net cash at the manufacturer's
dock.

These same articles cost the farmers, as a general rule,
from $55 to $60 per ton, or, by allowing 30 cents per pound
for nitrogen, from 18 cents to 20 cents per pound for soluble
phosphoric acid, about one-half the amount more than they
ought to.

There seems to be scarcely a more promising field of imme-
diate usefulness for farmers' clubs than to consider the various
ways and means by which their members may be enabled to
secure good and reliable fertilizers at a reasonable price.
Every intelligent farmer knows well that the amount of pre-
pared plant-food on hand represents the main capital he puts
on interest, and that on its fair return depends the financial
success of farming.

Manufacturers of fertilizers, on the other hand, ought to
recognize the peculiar position which the artificial or commer-
cial fertilizers occupy in our present system of agriculture.
They ought to exclude all worthless matter, bring their crude

COST OF SOLUBLE PHOSPHORIC ACID. 387

material into a good, fine mechanical condition, and cany
out the chemical processes involved in their manufacture with
the best skill.

To manufacture, in the old-fashioned way, only low-grade
ammoniated superphosphates, causes, as a general rule, not
less expenditure for labor, etc., than to apply more efficient
grinding, mixing and drying apparatus for the preparation of
the higher grades. A minute division of the crude phosphates,
before subjecting them to the action of sulphuric acid, is essen-
tial for a successful reaction. A subsequent uniform fine
pulverization of the entire mass is the first requisite for a
desirable general distribution and thus speedy action on the
crops.

Artificial commercial fertilizers are, in the majority of cases,
only applied to supply special wants, and are expected to act
soon ; besides, they are too high-priced to render their appli
cation profitable, in case years have to pass by before they
return with interest the capital invested. It is for this reason
that I advise farmers not to buy coarse articles, except at a
very reduced price. Again, the expenses of handling and of
carrying low grades of fertilizers increases the cost of their
essential ingredients — being only a small part of the bulk —
quite frequently at a rate of several cents per pound, as com-
pared with the higher grades.

The following abstract of a late market report on "Com-
mercial Fertilizers," from abroad, leaves no doubt about the
points just previously discussed.

The price of one pound of soluble phosphoric acid has
varied during the past year from 12.95 cents (currency) to
25.60 cents (currency). These variations were noticed to
stand in a certain relation to the concentration of the super-
phosphates sold. The highest price was paid in the low
grades, the lowest in the high grades ; namely :

In case of superphosphates containing, from —

20 to 18 per cent, of soluble acid, 12.95 cents per pound.

17 to 15 " " " 13.20 "

14 to 12 " " " 14.35 " "

10 to 8 " " " 19.07 " "

7 to 5 " " " 25.60 " "

388 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

The distinguished reporter, E. Wolff, of Hohenheim, states
also that the latter price is only paid in those sections where
but small quantities of artificial fertilizers are sold, and but
little competition disputes the market.

The majority of our home-made superphosphates do not
contain more than from 7 to 10 per cent, of soluble phosphoric
acid, for which our farmers are usually paying at the rate of
from 18 to 20 cents per pound. There is apparently no
necessity for this condition of our trade in fertilizers as com-
pared with that of Europe ; for some of the most valuable
mineral phosphates used on both continents for the manu-
facture of superphosphates are found on this side of the
Atlantic. The same fact is true, to some extent, at least, as
far as two of the important resources of nitrogen are con-
cerned— guano and Chili saltpetre. The difference in the
price of sulphuric acid alone does not account for the high
price our farmers are asked to pay. Some of our most enter-
prising manufacturers even concede that they can supply their
customers at as liberal terms as any European manufacturer
is capable of doing.

It seems that all we need to do is to treat the artificial com-
mercial fertilizers like other merchandise, — render ourselves
familiar with the extent and the nature of our resources,
notice the fluctuation in the market price of their essential
constituents, and pay for these only with reference to their
peculiar fitness for immediate action on the growth of
plants.

The following tabular statement may prove, in this connec-
tion, of interest : —

VALUATION OF ESSENTIAL INGREDIENTS. 389

Valuation of Nitrogen, Phosphoric Acid and Potassium Oxide, ivith refer-
ence to the particular form ; i. e., chemical and mechanical condition in
which they enter our market, either as fertilizers or as material for the
manufacture of the latter.

Price per Pound.

Germany,
81 = $1.12,
cy).

3 3

O

S a

PL4

>

•a

ce in
old (
urren

-man
resse
ency.

W S

~ to o

z — -

5 3

Bh

o

fe

I. Nitrogen, in form of ammonia, nitric "|

acid,* pulverized blood, meat, Peru- >

fO 26.4

$0 29.4

$0 30

vian guano and urates, . . .J

Nitrogen, in form of pulverized steamed \

bones, fish guano, poudrette and most >

24.0

26.9

-

kinds of artificial guano, . . . J

Nitrogen, in form of fine granulated S

and finely split bones, finely pulver- >

20.4

22.9

-

ized horn and wool-dust, . . .J

Nitrogen, in form of coarsely ground )

bones, horn-shavings and woollen |

rags ; human excretions and barn- ^

14.4

16.2

-

yard manure ; animal refuse from

•

glue factories and tanneries, etc.,

II. Phosphoric acid, soluble in water, as in S

superphosphates, and alkaline phos- >

10.8

12.1

16.25

phates, . . . . . . J

Phosphoric acid in Peruvian guano and ^
urates, /

8.4

9.4

13

Phosphoric acid in steamed fine bone- |

dust, fish guano and precipitated bone >

7.2

8.1

-

phosphate.f J

Percentage.

Price per
Ton.

Cost of lib.
of Nitrogen"

New York,
Boston,

Sulphate of ammonia (22 per cent,
of nitrogen)

Chili saltpetre (15 per cent, of ni-
trogen),

Potash saltpetre (nitre) (50 per ct. '
nitric acid equals 13 per cent, of
nitrogen and 45 per cent, potas-
sium oxide, the latter at 10 cents
per pound),

90
92

9.5

$115 00
80 00

$0 27.0
26.6

30.0

t These substances contain a small per cent, of phosphoric acid, which is soluble in citrate
of ammonia; for this is charged 13 cents, and for the remaining amount, 6 cents per pound.

390

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Valuation of Nitrogen, Phosphoric Acid, etc. — Con.

Price pee Pound.

Price in Germany,
gold ($1 = $1.12,
currency).

German Price ex-
pressed in cur-
rency.

•3

•0

a

K

"to

£ i

Phosphoric acid in Baker guano, wood- \
ash, J

Phosphoric acid in finely granulated j
bones (fine bones), finely pulverized >
bone-black waste and bone-ash, . J

Phosphoric acid in coarsely ground
bones, human excretions, stable ma-
nure, ground apatite and phosphorite, )■
and other crude phosphatic factory

refuse matter, 1

III. Potassium oxide (retail price), in form |
of chloride of potassium, at Stassfurt >
Pi. R station, Germany (av'ge price), J

Potassium oxide (av'ge price), in form"\
of sulphate of potassa, . . . /

Potassium oxide, in form of crude sul- ]
phate of potassa (kainite) and crude 1
sulphate of magnesia and potassa, is |
as cheap as in chloride of potassium, J

$0 06.6
6.0

4.8

3.9
6.9

*

$0 07.5
6.8

5.4

4.4

7.8

$0 06
06

06

08

* See above.

Although it must be conceded that classifications like the
previous ones cannot be otherwise than somewhat arbitrary in
some of their details, yet they are true in their general out-
lines, and deserve a careful consideration of all those who are
aiming at a mutually satisfactory adjustment of the question
regarding: the determination of the commercial and agricult-
ural value of fertilizers. The various prices above assigned to
nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potassium oxide with reference
to the forms enumerated are indorsed by most leading agri-
cultural chemists, and are largely based upon actual observa-
tions in the laboratory and the field.

Comparing our mode of calculating the commercial value
of fertilizers with that pursued in Europe, as has been shown
above, it is but too plain to escape notice that many of our
manufacturers have thus far better reasons for being satisfied
than our farmers.

PKOF. HOSFORD'S ADDRESS. 391

As a fair discussion and true exposition of the merits of the
various articles used for fertilizing purposes, as far as their
chemical and mechanical condition affect their relative value,
has everywhere proved a most efficient means to correct mis-
conception regarding the requirements of a good fertilizer,
there is no reason why the same remedy, judiciously applied,
should not be successful with us.

Before closing this report, I feel obliged to refer, in a
few words, to a late address "To Dealers in Fertilizers,"
published in a Boston paper, by Prof. E. N. Hosford, in
which the writer, among other topics, questions the merits
of the usual mode of determining the value of fertilizers in
the laboratory of chemists by analysis, etc. ; first, because
chemists differ in their commercial valuation ; second, the
results obtained in the field experiments referred to in the
address do not confirm the comparative value assigned by
analysis to the two fertilizers on trial. In regard to the first
point, I concede that chemists differ somewhat regarding the
value they assign to some of the essential constituents of fer-
tilizers, yet it is also true that they differ, as a general rule,
wherever the identity of the article has been established, far less
than manufacturers and dealers. It can scarcely be other-
wise ; for the chemist does not propose to make the market
price of fertilizers ; he leaves that to competition, and strives
simply to record the latter correctly, according to his best
information, for a limited district, and with reference to the rel-
ative amount of essential ingredients which the various articles
for sale contain. The values adopted in my first report are based
on the retail price of " fine bone " at Boston, which is $50 per ton.

Assuming the average composition of a fair article of that
kind — which experience fully indorses — to be from 22 to 24
per cent, of insoluble phosphoric acid, and from 3.5 to 4 per
cent, of nitrogen, I had to allow, for obvious reasons, 6 cents
per pound for phosphoric acid and 30 cents per pound for
nitrogen, to arrive at a valuation of $50 per ton, the amount
which it brings in the market. The same article, if sold in
larger quantities, costs but from $38 to $40 per ton, while it
sells in Chicago at $25 per ton. All I claimed in my first
report for my valuation was, that our manufacturers would be
obliged to consider it liberal ; feeling, at the same time, quite

392 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

confident that a few years of impartial discussion of the pecu-
niary side of the fertilizer question would result in a healthy
competition, and thereby indirectly obtain for our farmers the
practical benefits which the new law for the regulation of the
trade in commercial fertilizers is designed to secure to them.

The second objection ; namely, that the results of the field
experiments mentioned do not agree with the relative values
assigned by chemists to two fertilizers, tried by different par-
ties, is based on a misconception ; for agricultural chemists
distinguish between a commercial value and an agricultural
value of a fertilizer, as has been repeatedly explained in pre-
vious pages ; they do not assume to determine the latter
entirely by chemical analysis ; they merely propose to make
known to farmers, as far as practicable, the comparative com-
mercial value of its essential constituents.

Besides, as far as the experiments of the two different par-
ties cited in the above-named address are concerned, it is
hardly possible to recognize the force of the argument ; for
there is neither offered a satisfactory guarantee regarding the
identity of composition, etc., of the fertilizers used, beyond
a mere reference to the market brands (Wilson's and Brad-
ley's) applied ; nor is there any good proof presented con-
cerning a corresponding chemical and physical condition of
the lands, etc., etc., upon which they have been tested;
which renders the experiments, however carefully carried out
otherwise, as comparative tests, to say the least, of a very
doubtful character. All that can be justly required of dealers
in fertilizers is, to make them responsible for their statements
regarding the amount of nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potas-
sium oxide — as specified by law — contained in the articles
they offer for sale. It would be unjust to make them respon-
sible for results, which are beyond their control.

Those who are still doubting that a chemical examination
of our commercial fertilizers will ultimately benefit the vital
agricultural interests of the country, I desire to notice the
opinion of one of the leading agricultural chemists and fore-
most practical agriculturists of Europe. Prof. A. Stoeck-
hardt, of Saxony, closes his review of my first report "On
Commercial Fertilizers," with the following remark : " There
can be no doubt that American agriculture will arrive at sat-

COMPOSITION OF FERTILIZERS. 393

isfactory results, like ourselves, in obtaining reliable fertil-
izers, by strictly adhering to the chemical control adopted,
and by providing for chemistry what it needs for efficient
work, both confidence and ample means."

Charles A. Goessmann.

Note. — For the sake of convenience of reference and as throwing some
light on the analyses in the body of the Report, I append the

COMPOSITION OF SOME COMPOUNDS IN FERTILIZERS.

100 parts of Nitric acid contain 26.0 parts Nitrogen.
Ammonia contain 54.0 parts Nitrogen.
Nitrate of potassa contain 46.6 parts Potassium oxide.
Nitrate of potassa (or saltpetre) contain 53.4 parts Nitric acid.
Nitrate of soda contain 36.75 parts Sodium oxide.
Nitrate of soda (or Chili saltpetre) contain 63.25 parts Nitric

acid.
Sulphate of potassa contain 54.9 parts Potassium oxide.
Sulphate of potassa contain 46.0 parts Sulphuric acid.
Sulphate of lime (free of water) contain 41.0 parts Calcium

oxide.
Sulphate of lime (free of water) contain 59.0 parts Sulphuric

acid.
Sulphate of lime (with water, gypsum) contain 32.5 parts

Calcium oxide (lime) .
Sulphate of lime (with water, gypsum) contain 46.5 parts

Sulphuric acid.
Sulphate of lime (with water, gypsum) contain 21.0 parts

water.
Bone phosphate (or tricalcic phosphate) contain 54.0 parts

Calcium oxide (lime).
Bone phosphate (or tricalcic phosphate) contain 46.0 parts

Phosphoric acid.
Carbonate of lime contain 56.0 parts Calcium oxide (lime).
Carbonate of lime contain 44.0 parts Carbonic acid.
Chloride of potassium contain 52.4 parts Potassium.
Chloride of potassium contain 63.1 parts Potassium oxide.
Chloride of potassium contain 47.6 parts Chlorine.

C. A. G.
50

394 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

The Report was accepted.

Mr. W. L. "Warner then submitted the report of the com-
mittee on the assignment of delegates to visit and report upon
the exhibitions of the several agricultural societies as follows :
To the—

Essex, Couktlon Sanderson.

Middlesex, John A. Hawes.

Middlesex North, Charles G. Davis.

Middlesex South, Metcale J. Smith.

Worcester, Hebron Vincent.

Worcester West, Marshall P. Wilder.

Worcester North, Paul A. Chadbourne.

Worcester North-West, Horace M. Sessions.

Worcester South, Jonathan Ladd.

Worcester South-East, Albert Fearing.

Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden, . . John M. Cole.

Hampshire, George M. Baker.

Highland, E. H. Kellogg.

Hampden, Addison H. Holland.

Hampden East, Andrew M. Myrick.

Union, Stephen Shepley.

Franklin, Daniel Dwight.

Deerfield Valley, Eliphalet Stone.

Berkshire, Elijah Perry.

Hoosac Valley, Elnathan Graves.

Housatonic, O. B. Hadwen.

Norfolk, Edmund H. Bennett.

Hingham, William Knowlton.

Bristol, Horace P. Wakefield.

Bristol Central, E. C. Hawks.

Plymouth, George B. Loring.

Marshfield, Levi P. Warner.

Barnstable, Henry S. Goodale.

Nantucket, S. B. Phinney.

Martha's Vineyard, W. L. Warner.

The Report was accepted, and the assignments made
accordingly.

The committee on printing was constituted by the appoint-
ment of Messrs. Hawes, Moore and the Secretary.

Voted, That all unfinished business be referred to the com-
mittee on printing, with full power.

MENTAL FACULTIES OF ANIMALS. 395

The examining committee of the Massachusetts Agricult-
ural College was constituted by the appointment of Messrs.
Bennett, Sargent and Goodale.

Voted, That a committee of three be appointed, to appear
before the legislature and request that a law be enacted to
prohibit the catching of the fish called trout, in any public
stream, pond or lake withiu the limits of this Commonwealth,
for the term of three years from the first day of May next.

Messrs. Cole, Davis and Moore.

Voted, That in case any delegate is unable to attend the
exhibition to which he is assigned, he be requested to notify
the Secretary, and that a substitute be appointed in his place.

Voted, To appoint a committee of three to consider and
report upon the necessity of uniformity in the length of car-
riage-axles in this Commonwealth.

Messrs. Davis, Graves and Goodale.

The following essay, prepared by President P. A. Chad-
bourne for the meeting at "Westfield, was then submitted,
upon —

THE MENTAL FACULTIES OF OUR DOMESTIC ANIMALS.

In discussing this subject, "The Mental Faculties of our
Domestic Animals," there are certain preliminaries that must
be settled, in order that we may be understood. The common
language in regard to this whole subject is in a very unsatis-
factory condition. The same terms and powers are defined
so differently by different writers and speakers, that it is often
difficult to tell whether they agree or not. The only attempt
that will be made in this short paper is to introduce the sub-
ject, and define and explain some of the leading terms, so that
it may be fairly understood what we mean when we use
them.

1. And, first of all, as to the subject itself. Many are
ready to deny, at the outset, that animals have mental powers
at all. For all such our discussion should stop before it
begins.

396 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

We have two things to say in reference to this. In the
first place, we take the subject as it was left for us by our
late distinguished member, Prof. Agassiz. We know that he
ascribed high powers to some animals, and would not have
acknowledged that there was any error in the wording of this
subject. But to save controversy, we state in the beginning,
that we mean by the mental powers of our domestic animals,
those powers by which they imitate man in action and expres-
sion and come into relations to him.

We find among the species of the vegetable kingdom a
certain power of adaptation. There are sudden movements
of some plants and other changes for the benefit of the indi-
vidual or species that simulate the action of animals, — what
we might call instinctive or intelligent action. Like results
are reached through the physiological forces of the animal
organization, as the physiological changes by which animals
are adapted to the seasons. Such changes, through mere
physiological functions of organs, should render us cautious
in attributing intelligence to any of the lower animals, simply
because a specific act of theirs commends itself to our intelli-
gence. The results of vegetable and animal physiology do
the same. We must judge of the nature of an act of an
animal by all the conditions of the act, and not simply from
the result reached.

If we compare our higher animals, among which our domes-
tic animals are found, writh man, we shall find the likeness so
great, so far as the mere animal nature is concerned, that we
cannot deny to them the possession of the same kind of phys-
ical susceptibilities and some of the same supersensuous powers
as man possesses, without rejecting all those principles of
Reasoning upon wrhich we rest in all scientific investigations
and conclusions. If a dog howls when he is struck with a
whip, we believe that he feels pain, as a man would feel it,
when thus struck ; and when he shrinks at the sight of that
whip again, we believe that he remembers it as the instrument
that caused suffering, as the man who uses it remembers its
use.

Comparing, then, the physical structure of the higher ani-
mals with that of man, we find it essentially the same. A
man and a dog are built on the same general plan. The com-

INSTINCT AND REASON. 397

position of bone and muscle is essentially the same in both.
Both are nourished and poisoned by the same materials ; both
have a like relation to cold and heat ; in fact, they have the
same relation, in kind, to all the elements and forces of
nature.

If we look for evidence of a supersensuous nature in ani-
mals similar to that in man, the evidence is apparently as
conclusive as in regard to their likeness of structure. They
manifest fear, joy, sorrow, anger and shame. The evidence
that these emotions are the same, in kind, as are experienced
by man, is seen in the general effect on the physical system
and the tones of voice. Fear quickens the beating of the
heart and gives trembling to the limbs of a horse as well as
to those of a man. The angry dog glares with the eye, emits
harsh tones, and is as ready to fight as any brutal man.

It is impossible to study our domestic animals without a
comparison with them of the allied wild races. It is from
the wild animal that we learn most readily and fully the scope
of its natural powers.

As a foundation for conscious intelligence we have instinct,
a wonderful manifestation, reaching results approved by the
intelligence of the wisest man. Of its nature and limitations
there is a wide diversity of opinions.

It is to the consideration of instinct that we shall address
ourselves in the remainder of this essay, that we may define
terms and prepare the way for the full discussion, another
year, of the "Mental Powers of our Domestic Animals."

Instinct, in popular language, is generally contrasted with
Reason. It is spoken of as an entity ; a principle controlling
the lower animals and peculiar to them.

Instinct more properly implies simply a peculiar mode of
action, which may prevail in the lower animals or man. It
is a name for a class of impulses and capabilities that give
rise to actions apparently connected with voluntary powers ;
actions for the benefit of the actor, but independent of intelli-
gence. Instinctive acts thus simulate intelligent action, while
there is no comprehension by the actor of ends, or of means
in relation to ends. Such comprehension, wherever found,
is the work of Intelligence. But instead of attempting, at
the outset, to frame a concise definition of instinct, we shall

398 BOARD OF AGEICULTURE.

give a series of definitions and explanations, which will aid
ns in understanding the nature of instinctive actions and their
relation to functional and reflex action on the one hand, and
intelligent action on the other. .

1. An instinct may be defined as an impidse to a particular
hind of action, which the being needs to perform as an indi-
vidual or representative of a species; but which it could not
possibly learn to perform before it needs to act.

Instinct, as a general term, properly includes all the origi-
nal impulses (excepting the appetites) and that apparent
knowledge and skill which animals have without experience.

There are some actions that have been regarded as instinc-
tive that are probably only reflex; that is, actions produced
without volition as the immediate effect of some stimulus upon
a nerve or nerve centre. The stinging by a bee is plainly a
reflex action, because the abdomen of the bee, when severed
from the thorax, will not only thrust out the sting, but will
direct the sting toward the part that is touched. But when
the bee flies at an enemy in defence of its nest, the act is
instinctive, as that term is generally used. The definition of
reflex action has been so extended by some as to embrace
all the acts which we term instinctive (Descartes, Herbert
Spencer). We cannot, however, regard the return of fishes
to their breeding-places, the migration of birds, or the storing
up of food by animals of different kinds, as in any proper
sense reflex actions. They are so complex, involve so much
of time and space for their completion, and so simulate the
wisest and most skilful actions of intelligent beings, that they
at least deserve a specific name, which we have in the word
instinctive.

The activities properly denominated instinctive may be
classified into four groups.

(a) Impidses arising beyond the sphere of the appetites or
ministering to the appetites, as the impulse to migrate, to store
food for winter; also the desires (so called) in man.

(b) Ability (knowledge?) without instruction, for meeting
the demands of the appetites and desires, and for doing those
things essential for the continuance of the individual and the
species.

(c) Ability (knowledge?) arising independently of any

EXHIBITION OF INSTINCTIVE ACTION. 399

demand of the appetites, as recognition of certain enemies
without instruction or experience.

(d) Ability (skill?) without instruction or practice, to carry
out the plans necessary for the good of the species, as the vari-
ous methods of securing food, the building of nests and care
of young.

Three thinsrs are involved in the highest manifestations of
those activities which are together labelled Instinct — Impulse,
Knoioledge and Skill — or an Ability that in action simulates
both knowledge and skill. In the animal kingdom, as now
existing, we find impulses to specific actions and so much of
apparent knowledge and skill belonging to each species at
birth as shall enable its members to begin life successfully,
just as a certain completeness of organs is given to them at
birth, that the vital processes may go on to perfection. As
the physical system develops, new instincts are developed to
secure the proper use of organs and the proper relations of
the whole being to the world. However the result may have
been secured, we now find, as a matter of fact, that structure,
function and instinct supplement each other in a wonderful
manner.

The special manifestations of instinctive action illustrative
of these general propositions are exhibited by animals chiefly
in the following manner : —

1. By the acts that supplement physiological functions, as
in the choice of food, the methods of securing it, and the
union of the sexes.

2. By the natural recognition of certain enemies, and by
those specific acts to avoid them common to all members of
the same species.

3. By the use of special structures, as the fang of the
rattlesnake, for defence, and the use of the oil-gland by fowls
in dressing their feathers.

4. By those acts necessary for the existence of communi-
ties of different kinds of individuals, as in the case of bees
and ants, where individuals from the same mother have differ-
ent instincts, but all working together for the welfare of the
species.

5. By the development of special impulses incidental to the
parental relation, for providing for and defending the young.

400 BOAED OF AGRICULTURE.

6. By the structure of complicated homes, characteristic
of different species.

7. By the peculiar impulses of the young by which they
are at once brought into proper relations to their parents and
the world. The young of our hoof-bearing animals, for in-
stance, must seek the udder for themselves, as the mother
cannot aid them.

8. By the change of impulse and habit in different stages
of existence of the same individual, for its own advantage ;
as among insects.

9. By the impulses and actions of animals demanding cer-
tain changes in other beings to complete their work ; as the
formation of oak-galls to complete the work of the insect in
providing for its young.

10. By the many cases in which the instinctive act exactly
supplants structure and function ; as the honey-bee has the
function in the wings of its body of secreting wax, and in its
mandibles, instruments for forming a cell. Instinct prompts
the bee to use the instrument and the product of the function
to construct its comb.

11. By the inter-action of the instinct of the mother and
that of the young ; as when the fowl gives the note of warn-
ing, and the young instantly scatter from her and hide,
because she cannot protect them.

12. By those cases, as among fishes and many insects,
where the young never see the parent, never have an oppor-
tunity to learn from one of their kind ; and yet instinctive
impulse directs them in the same way, and in the best way,
in all the exigencies of life.

A careful study of the subject shows the great difficulty of
distinguishing instinctive action from reflex, on the one hand,
and from intelligent on the other. This difficulty arises from
the fact that the different kinds of acts are often alike in their
results ; and in the chief field of their manifestations, that is,
among the lower animals, we have no means of determining
their nature, but observation as to the method and the con-
dition of the action. Whether there is among them conscious
relation of the actor to the act, it is impossible for us to
learn except by inference. Reflex and instinctive acts are
both in the same line, for the benefit of the individual in

THEORIES OF INSTINCTIVE ACTION. 401

which they appear ; or, when against the welfare of the indi-
vidual, they are for the welfare of the species to which he
belongs. As both classes of acts are in the same line, and
are alike in their results, it becomes difficult, not to say
impossible, to apply a satisfactory test for determining the
class to which certain acts belong. The young bird, just
from the shell, raises its head and opens its bill to receive
food. Whether that act is simply reflex, or whether it be-
longs to those acts properly denominated instinctive, we can-
not certainly determine. But the act is in the same line as the
instinctive work of the bird, when, becoming older, it seeks
food for itself. Instinctive acts commend themselves to rea-
son as the best possible for the being that performs them ;
and in the lower animals they so simulate intelligent action,
and seem to be so intimately joined to it in man, that it is
very difficult to apply, in a satisfactory manner, any test for
distinguishing one kind from another. Hence arises the
difficulty of proving that the lower animals ever perform any
acts higher in kind, than instinctive.

Theories. — The prevailing theories in regard to instinctive
action may, in the main, be reduced to three.

1. That these impulses and capabilities were the direct
gift of the Creator to each species, as an essential outfit.
This theory would be satisfied with the doctrine of special
creations, or the doctrine of evolution according to a plan, by
which the developments of new organs and new instincts are
coordinated in the development of new species from one form,
as the organs and instincts of the individual are coordinated
in its development from the egg. The essential thing in this
theory is, that each species shall have, as an original gift, all
those instinctive powers and capabilities essential to their
existence as a species, and development as individuals.

2. That what we call instinct is simply the accumulated
results of individual experience, fixed by repetition and
received by the living races b}' inheritance. Every instinct,
according to Lewes, is an "organized experience," a " Lapsed
Intelligence;"* "its genesis is from actions that at first were
tentative; in other words, intelligent." f

* Nature, April, 1872.

t Problems of Life and Mind, Vol. I., pp. 20S, 209.
51

402 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Mr. Darwin, while allowing that some intelligent actions
may become converted into instincts and be inherited, claims
for the greater number of complex instincts an entirely dif-
ferent origin ; that is, "through the natural selection of varia-
tions of simpler instinctive actions, — variations that arise
from unknown causes." * He thus attempts to explain the
most complex cases of instinctive action. The full discussion
of his theory, as a whole, and the specific cases under it,
would require more space than we can here give.f

The impulses of animal life are functional, as the appetites;
or instinctive, as the desires. In the animal kingdom, as it
now exists, the impulses find their expression through com-
plex, directing powers that supply, for these lower animals, the
place of acquired knowledge and skill in man. In specific,
simple acts instinctive action depends upon the impression
made upon the senses. Instinct may thus be deceived by
appearances. In many cases we find instincts the exercise of
which immediately after birth is essential to life, as the
instinct of the young mammal to seek the udder. We cannot
conceive of a time when such an instinct was not essential to
all such animals. If wo attempt, with Darwin, to explain
the comb-making instinct of the honey-bee, by the influence
of natural selection in preserving those swarms that built
best, because they need less honey in making wax {"Origin
of Species"), we cannot help asking how we shall account for
the same six-sided cells in the nest of the wasp, where no
honey is used for making wax and no food stored for winter?
We can only state as a fact that we find each species, as it now
exists, endowed with such instincts as enable it, as a whole, to
hold its place in the world against all ordinary contingencies.
We find these impulses and directive powers arising in indi-
viduals as naturally as the different organs develop by growth.
The young animal comes into the world with a physical organ-
ization sufficient for carrying on the physical system to per-
fection, and with instinctive impulses and capabilities sufficient
for beginning and carrying on the same work. While physi-
ological forces carry on the growth within the body, instinc-
tive forces adjust the relatious of the animal to the external

* Descent of Man, Vol. I., p. 37.

t See Chadbourne's " Instinct in Animals and Man."

DIKING AND DRAINING. 403

world. Through these impulses and activities all auiuaals are
urged ou to their end in that course best for the species as a
whole.

How far the acts of our domestic animals may be referred
to mere instinct, as we have here defined and illustrated that
term, or how far their acts indicate higher powers, in kind,
we must discuss at some future time.

P. A. Chadbourne.

The essay was accepted.

The reports of delegates, and the several essays which had
been presented during the session, were then read a second
time by their titles, and adopted, when the Board

Adjourned.

The experiment of diking-in the salt marshes of the State,
and so reclaiming vast tracts of valuable lands from the
encroachments of the sea, now ' fairly begun in the case
of Green Harbor Marsh', in the town of Marshfield, so
admirably described in previous pages of this Report, is
worthy of special mention and careful study. Thousands of
acres of salt marshes, now comparatively worthless, may thus
be added to the tillage lands of the Commonwealth at a reason-
able cost, and easily brought into a condition to contribute
largely to the agricultural wealth of the community. The
lands thus saved from the sea, in northern Europe, are among
the richest and most productive in the world, and now sup-
port a vast population.

It is worthy of consideration, also, whether something could
not be done to retrieve the mistakes of former legislatures, in
allowing the destruction of vast tracts of land, admitted to be
among the richest, naturally, of any soils in the State, by the
flowage of meadows along our rivers and larger streams for
milling purposes. The encroachments upon such lands, under
what are known as the Mill Acts, were, perhaps, necessary in
the earlier days of the colony and during the last century, or
previous to the introduction and use of steam, which has, in
so many cases, taken the place of water-power for grinding
grain and various manufacturing industries. It was a public

404 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

convenience to have a mill within easy access, and the injury
to land was of less consequence than it has become at the
present day. There was a disposition to encourage the erec-
tion of dams and the utilization of Avater for grinding, sawing,
etc., while the value of the territory to be flowed by such
dams was of comparatively -little importance.

The times have changed. The increase of population has
made lands more valuable for farming purposes, while sanitary
science has made such progress as to establish an intimate
connection between the public health and efficient systems of
drainage.

The damming of many of the rivers of this State has been
a serious injury to agriculture in many ways. Take, for
example, the Concord and Sudbury rivers.

From eight to ten thousand acres of meadow lands, from
time immemorial, previous to the present century, regarded
as the most productive and remarkable for natural fertility of
any hi that portion of the State, stretch for twenty-five miles
along a sluggish stream through the towns of Way laud, Sud-
bury, Lincoln, Concord, Bedford, Carlisle and Billerica. Ten
thousand acres is a large tract of country. Its possibilities
for production under the hands of skilful industry, are almost
beyond calculation.

It was a smiling valley, dotted with fine farms and prosper-
ous farmers, with meadows perfectly accessible to the heaviest
teams up and down the river to its brink, capable of sustain-
ing the heaviest loads hauled by four heavy cattle without
slumping, so compact was the surface, covered with a green
and luxuriant vegetation. The hay-crops were abundant, and
nearly equal to the best of English in value. According to
all accounts, the forage on these vast meadows, often stretch-
ing out for a mile or more in width, lying now on one side of
the stream and now on the other, sometimes on both, possessed
properties and peculiarities which made it highly popular and
gave it a reputation far and near. No farm produce was in so
great and constant demand. When the "Ministerial Lots,"
set apart by the fathers of New England " to pay the debt of
piety," were offered at public auction to the highest bidder, as
they were in accordance with an old custom every year, the
inhabitants of neighboring towns flocked to these annual sales,

FLOWAGE OF MEADOWS. 405

always sure to get something choice in the way of stock hay.
It was known far and wide under the name of "pipes," and
was said to be so nutritive and so greatly relished by cattle,
that they would instantly stop their chewing of the best of
English hay whenever they heard the well-known rustle of
"pipes" upon the mow and wait till it was pitched down within
their reach. Oxen were easily fattened upon it. Working
cattle gained new strength in feeding on "pipes." Milch cows
also throve upon it. In those days the great fattening ground
for our local market was along this beautiful valley. It was
noted in those days as the Connecticut Valley has since
become. Young cattle were raised there by the thousand.

The "pipes" have now disappeared from these once fertile
meadows, and their produce has deteriorated and sunk to the
level of that of common wet bogs. They are no longer
accessible to teams. Lands that were quick of sale at a
hundred dollars an acre and more, a century ago, will hardly
now command five. The "Ministerial Lots," which easily
brought a rental of sixty or seventy dollars a year, sank to
fifteen, ten and five, till lost to sight, though still, perhaps,
here and there to memory dear.

This vast tract of fertile meadow land, seventy-five years
ago, had an actual market value of more than a million of
dollars ; but to the happy dwellers along the river, as a con-
stituent part of their system of husbandry, it was worth vastly
more. It required no labor except the joyous one of gathering
the rich harvest. It required no fencing, no manuring, no
toilsome working with the plough. Its bounty was sure as
the year was to come round. It was, as they thought, a safe
and sure and rich legacy to children and to grand-children.

The Concord River is formed by the junction of the Sudbury
and the Assabet. The Sudbury rises in Westborough, in
a vast swamp lying in the easterly part of the town. A large,
shallow pond in Hopkinton, above Woodville, also has its
outlet through this swamp, and so out through the little
stream which runs easterly through Ashland to Framingham,
and thence a little east of north through the town of Wayland,
along the east line of Sudbury and the west line of Lincoln,
into Concord, where it joins the Assabet. The Assabet
River rises also in the westerly part of Westborough, and

406 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

receives in its devious and winding way many little accessions,
when it rans in a course chiefly north-eas.t, through North-
borough, Berlin, Marlborough and Stow, along the line
of Sudbury, aud across a corner of Acton, into Concord,
where it joins the Sudbury near the village of Concord ; and
below that point the united waters of these two smaller
streams constitute the Concord River, which flows a little
east of north through Concord, along the line between Carl-
isle and Bedford, into Billerica, and to the dam at North
Billerica, from which point it continues northerly till it joins
the Merrimac.

The Assabet differs essentially from the Sudbury and the
Concord. Its banks are generally higher and its current
more rapid. The Sudbury River, at Wayland and Sudbury,
forms a great expanse, and the meadows over which it flows
are now water-logged, or wet throughout the season. Four
thousand acres are thus rendered worthless for cultivation,
being generally overflowed.

It will readily be seen that the Sudbury and the Concord
form essentially one and the same river, and one of the most
sluggish in the world, falling only about an inch in a mile,
for the space of more than twenty-two miles. The bed of
the river for twenty-five miles above the dam at Billerica,
rises at no point to a level with the top of the dam. It is
clear that in such a river the legislature ought never to have
granted the right to flow by the erection of a dam which
should set so large a body of water back to flood so many
valuable acres, and to destroy the health and the lives of so
large and loyal a part of our population. Nor is it probable
that it ever intended to grant such a right, to interfere with
the vested rights of private property on so large a scale. Let
us see how it happened.

As early as 1793 the legislature incorporated the Middlesex
Canal Company, " for the purpose of cutting a canal from the
waters of the Merrimack River, into the waters of the Med-
ford River, with all the powers and privileges incident to simi-
lar corporations. " At that time it was understood that the
water for the canal was to be taken from the Merrimac, and
not from the Concord, as the sole feeder, or indeed as any
feeder. In 1795 power was granted to dig a canal to connect

THE SUDBURY MEADOWS. 407

the Concord River with the Middlesex Canal. In 1798 author-
ity was granted to buy and hold mill seats on the waters
connected with the canal, and to erect mills on them. This
opened the way to systematic encroachments by raising the
dam without the consent or even the knowledge of the land
owners along the river, till it reached over three feet above
the old dam, at the time of their purchase. The meadows
then began to degenerate, and this degeneration was directly
due to the unjustifiable encroachments of the old Middlesex
Canal Company, and greatly accelerated by an increase in the
height of the dam in 1828. Suit after suit was brought in
the courts ; but the sufferers were confronted by able and
skilful counsel, and they failed to obtain redress. The Mill
Acts and the power of the corporation were too strong.
Justice is slow when the farming interest sues as against the
power of corporate bodies or the manufacturing interests of
the State.

Another serious calamity awaited the meadow owners when,
about twenty-five years ago, the people of Boston asked for,
and obtained of the legislature, authority to use the water
of Long Pond, now called Lake Cochituate, for the supply of
the city. The natural outlet of this pond was an affluent
of the Sudbury, and it was estimated that about one-third of
that whole lazy stream came from this source. The people
of Wayland, who held the property and the jurisdiction of a
large portion of the land and water thus sought for, even
aided the city in its efforts. But, unfortunately, the Boston
Water Board, as some compensation to the proprietors of
the Middlesex Canal for the water to be taken, was compelled
to build two enormous reservoirs, one on a branch of the
Sudbury River in Hopkinton, covering five or six hundred
acres, and the other in Marlborough, on a branch of the
Assabet. These reservoirs threw down, in the driest part of
the summer, a monstrous quantity of water, often more than
twice or three times as much as the city diverted, or seven-
teen millions of gallons a day, the natural flow of the pond
being only five millions a day. That was like the last straw
that broke the camel's back. The Water Board actually con-
gratulated itself over its success in flooding the valley, but
the owners of the meadows had little reason to rejoice.

408 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

The history of these once fertile meadows is only that of
many others in various parts of the State, though the damage
may have been more serious here than is usually the case, on
account of the conformation of the country and the extremely
level bed of the river. Instances of a similar character,
though, perhaps, on a smaller scale, will readily occur to
every intelligent man, where serious and lasting injury to the
natural products of the soil and to the health of the commu-
nity, is due to the impossibility of drainage except by the
removal of expensive dams or other obstructions.

The time will undoubtedly come when the demands of an
advancing civilization will cause such obstructions to be
removed in many cases, and thus redeem extensive tracts of
sightless bogs, now lying waste and comparatively useless,
adding many broad acres to the area adapted to the production
of human food in this Commonwealth.

CHARLES L. FLINT,

Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture.

Boston, January, 1875.

^^

APPENDIX.

ii BEPORTS OF DELEGATES.

EEPOETS OP DELEGATES

APPOINTED TO VISIT THE

AGRICULTURAL EXHIBITIONS.

ESSEX.

Your delegate arrived at the fair-grounds in season to inspect the
whole process of preparation and organization for a first-class cattle-
show and fair.

* His first introduction was at the town hall, where the society was
holding its annual meeting. A glance at the assembled yeomanry
of Essex, and the witnessing, for a few moments, their earnest and
efficient manner, convinced him that the Essex County Agricultural
Societ}7 was a live organization, and the members thereof moant
business.

Immediately upon adjournment of this meeting, it commenced to
rain, and soon increased to a violent storm, which continued through
the day ; while it somewhat- dampened the ardor of your delegate,
it seemed to inspire to more active exertion those whose business it
was to furnish material for the show.

A very cursory view of the stock-department revealed the fact
that Essex, although a manufacturing and commercial community,
can boast a good show of the improved breeds of horses, cattle,
sheep and swine and poultry. Taking the exhibition all in all, it
was fully equal to any we have witnessed in an}' part of the Com-
monwealth.

This society is one of the oldest and richest agricultural societies
in the State ; has a large fund, which is accumulating from year
to year.

One peculiarity of this society is, it has no fixed centre, but
migrates around among the various local centres of the county, thus
affording to the different localities alternate seasons of labor and
rest, which, no doubt, has a tendency to increase the efficiency of

APPENDIX. iii

the society ; because, while the same corps of officers has been
retained for a long period, — giving the society the benefit of expe-
rience in the various departments, — the rotation to the different
localities brings to their aid a class of fresh workers whose zeal and
ardor tell on the exhibition.

Town-teams formed a striking feature of the show, and when all
these teams were formed in line, presented a very imposing spectacle.

The various breeds known in the State were represented by oxen,
bulls, cows and young stock, which showed that Essex has not been
asleep while the other counties have been up and doing. One pair
only of Hereford oxen was on exhibition, but these fully sustained
the former reputation of that breed, which is now almost extinct in
Massachusetts.

The show of poultiy was a great success, — 117 coops of beautiful
specimens, embracing almost eveiy variety of fowls known to modern
amateurs.

There was a good show of sheep, and a large show of swine, of
veiy superior quality.

The rainy season outside afforded a fine opportunity in the hall,
where was a magnificent display of fruits, vegetables and flowers,
which held our attention through the whole afternoon. "We embraced
this opportunity to examine in detail this vast collection of the
horticultural products of old Essex, with feelings of intense interest,
feeling, in some degree, compensated for the lack of opportunity to
examine in detail the stock outside.

Mr. Gregory's exhibition of garden-vegetables, in such great
variety and perfection, was so striking, that we set him down as a
benefactor of the race, and entitled to the gratitude of the commu-
nity for his efforts to increase the variet}T and improve the quality
of that ever-increasing necessity of modern civilization — garden
vegetables.

The ladies' department was not very fully sustained, and we con-
cluded that the introduction of machineiy had crowded out the old
sewing-needle, and the ladies of Essex had turned their attention to
other industries, leaving " patchwork," and its kindred, to less
favored portions of the Commonwealth.

The floral department was sustained most full}-. The variety,
richness and beauty and profusion of the flowers, to which was
added the beauty of their arrangement, rendered the show very
attractive ; and we spent the very rainy afternoon fully impressed
with this thought, that if the people everywhere were as much awake
to the aesthetic requirements of our nature, and would make the same
exertion to supply that demand, as the people of Essex had done,
the millennium would soon be upon us.

iv REPORTS OF DELEGATES.

The ploughing-inatch was very spirited. Nineteen teams, single
and double, were engaged, and the work was so well performed, it
must have required veiy nice discrimination on the part of the com-
mittee to do justice to the individual, when all the work was so well
performed.

The mental department, also, was well sustained. The address
at the church was replete with sentiments of a high order, calculated
to elevate the thoughts and the life of the yeoman, and inspire him
with higher and holier aspirations while pursuing his daily toil.

The dinner was honored by the presence of our excellent governor
(Talbot) and council, and other dignitaries of the State.
* In conclusion, it is safe to say that Essex has shown herself
worthy the continued patronage of the Commonwealth, and we can
rely upon her to make full returns for the generous bounty bestowed.
The polite attentions paid your delegate by the officers and mem-
bers of the society have laid him under lasting obligation, and he
will ever retain sentiments of grateful remembrance for their gen-
erous hospitality.

Roger H. Lea.vitt.

MIDDLESEX

The discussion, in 1874, in favor of short reports, is a special
relief to the delegate to the Middlesex Society, who finds himself
called upon for a report, while he is without strength to write all
he would be glad to say of his visit to Concord.

Unfortunately for the success of agricultural exhibitions, those
who manage them cannot control the weather, — so the good people
of Concord have found for two years past, to the sorrow of those
who like large receipts as well as fine shows.

The " latter rains " seldom came down with more power than
when your delegate landed in Concord on the 29th of September.
The depot had been " on the move," so that we were well sprinkled
before we could find cover ; and, altogether, we were so thoroughly
wet before we reached the exhibition hall, that the physical S3Tstern
was cool enough, if the judgment was not. In consequence of the
rain, we have no report to make on the ploughing. All of the first
day was given to a careful examination of the articles in the build-
ing, where there was dryness and comfort. There was a good show
of poultry in the basement of the building and in the hall. The
exhibition, as a whole, we have never seen surpassed by an3'thing of
the kind. It was plain, at a glance, that we were outside of the
districts of general farming, and had come into the very heart of

APPENDIX. v

gardening districts. The exhibition of fruits, flowers and vegetables
was not only the best we have ever seen in the State, but some of
the single specimens we have never seen surpassed. There was
evidence of great results already reached, and of continued efforts for
improvement. We shall always remember the immense cauliflowers ex-
hibited by our friend Moore ; and the collection of vegetables b}r Presi-
dent Cummings was superb, both as to size and perfection of form.

It was pleasant to see our old friend Bull moving around among
the grapes, growing enthusiastic again over the possibilities of new
seedlfeigs, descendants of his famous " Concord." The display of
flowers, ferns and other ornamental plants, was a source of delight
to every lover of the beautiful. Here, it was plain, that our friend
Moore labors to charm the eye as well as to gratify the palate. We
were also glad to see that our native plants had an honored place
among the more showy exotics. "What flowers can ever take the
place, to a real lover of nature, of those simple " wildlings " that
adorn our road-sides, meadows and woodlands, from the time the
Hepatica rejoices us in spring till the Witch-hazel mingles its falling
petals with the early snows !

We noticed a large number of those pieces of work that are
curious, — some that fairly made the eyes and hands ache at the
thought of the patient labor they must have required. We are a
great stickler for " utilization " of labor, and we hold that the really
beautiful object is useful in the highest sense. But when it comes
to writing the Lord's prayer on a three-cent piece, or making a bed-
cover of 3,000 pieces, no better than one made of two pieces, cutting
a chain of many links out of a pine stick, or making imitations of
flowers by cutting beets and carrots into the form of dahlias and
roses, — we doubt the utility of such work, and can only commend it
in the case of invalids, who find in it a relief from suffering ; or in
the case of unfortunate prisoners, who have nothing else to do.

The second day was more propitious, so that the grounds could
be examined. The show of milch cows was fair.

At noon, there was a grand rail}' in the dining-hall ; and after the
ample dinner was discussed, your delegate was called upon, without
previous notice, for a speech ! He spoke just long enough to enable
Senator Boutwell and Secretary Flint to arrange their thoughts, so
that we had two good speeches from them.

But no speaker can draw against a trotting horse ! So the meet-
ing was adjourned to the " course " ; and your delegate was compelled
to leave, satisfied that the exhibition answered the end for which it
was established, and gratified with his cordial welcome there.

P. A. ClIADBOURNE.

vi REPORTS OF DELEGATES.

MIDDLESEX SOUTH.

The twenty-first annual cattle-show and fair of the Middlesex
South Agricultural Society was held on Tuesday and Wednesday,
September 22d and 23d, to which I was assigned as delegate by
this Board.

The weather was favorable, and in every respect all that could be
desired.

Tuesday forenoon was taken up in arranging the articles for
exhibition, which was admirably clone under the direction of the
superintendent. The display of fruit and flowers was veiy large
and fine ; the orchards and gardens had yielded abundantl}'.

Noticeable, among other things, was a fine display of blackberries,
raised in Saxonville.

Pears, apples, and grapes of a very fine quality, were exhibited in
abundance.

The display of vegetables was good, and creditable to the exhib-
itors,— consisting of potatoes, cabbages, beets, onions, tomatoes, etc.

The show of cereals was small.

The ladies' department was conspicuous for the excellent display
of bread, butter, cake, jellies, etc. There was in the hall quite a
display of fine specimens of needle-work.

The afternoon of Tuesday was chiefly occupied in the exhibition
of horses, or, in other words, horse-trotting.

The attendance on the second da}T, especially in the afternoon,
was large, and everything seemed to be on the move. The plough-'
ing-match, at nine o'clock, was well attended and interesting. I
think that I never witnessed better work at a ploughing-match, and
I saw nothing more attractive, with the exception of the trial of
speed with horses, in the afternoon. I may here be permitted to say,
that I think that, in some of our societies, the ploughing-match is
not thought so much of as it should be.

The show of horses and colts, in the forenoon of the second day,
was veiy fair. There were also some good specimens of milch cows
and young stock, of the most approved breeds. Considering the
location and the number of fine herds within the limits of the
society, the show of neat-stock was far below what we had good
reason to expect. As I have said, there were some good specimens of
Ayrshires, Shorthorns. Dutch, Jerseys, etc., — but meagre in numbers.

The show of swine embraced some fine specimens, although the
number was small.

The poultry department was very full, and the display of choice
breeds was quite large.

APPENDIX. vii

One of the most attractive and inviting features of the second
day, was the dinner, furnished by the ladies of the society. It was
excelfent in quality, abundant in quantit}r, and served at the tables
by the ladies themselves. In a word, it was the best dinner, and
the most gracefully served, of any agricultural dinner that I have
ever attended.

After dinner, the Hon. Harris Lewis, of New York, delivered an
interesting lecture, entitled, "In the Rut or Out, Which?" There
were several short addresses hy other guests of the society. There
are certain courtesies due from the officers of the societies to the
delegates from this Board that are not always observed, owing, doubt-
less, to want of experience, or, possibly, to forgetfulness.

Judging from what information your delegate could gather, the
society is in a prosperous condition, and capable of doing a great
deal of good for the agricultural interest of the Commonwealth.

J. Ladd.

MIDDLESEX NORTH.

Having been appointed a delegate to visit the Middlesex North
Agricultural Society, and to report its condition and the character
of the fairs, etc., I shall endeavor to discharge my dut}7 faithfully, in
accordance with the best information I can get, and my own obser-
vation.

The annual exhibition of this society was held on the 24th and
25th of September, 1874. The two days were all that could be
desired, and, even more ; the soil was very sandy and dry, the dust
oppressive. Not being familiar with their programme, I arrived
there one day earlier than I should have done. But it proved all
for the best, as I had a better opportunity to know them.

On entering upon the grounds the first day, I must say I was
somewhat disappointed, as I saw few people, comparative!}7, and but
few contributions for the fair. I inquired for the president. On
being introduced, I found him all that could be desired for the
occasion. He informed me that the first day was a day of prepara-
tion. In fact, all seemed busy getting ready for the fair in every
department.

On the afternoon of the first day the society held its annual
meeting for the choice of officers, to which I was cordially invited.
There I learned that the society was perfectly united, free from
debt, and owning a beautiful park, with graded track, and a large,
commodious hall, 70 by 100 feet long, two stories and basement, —

viii REPORTS OF DELEGATES.

all inclosed with a substantial board-fence. As this day was pre-
liminaiy to the show, it afforded Hie a good opportunity to get
acquainted with the officers and ex-officers of the society, some of
whom I am happy to name, namely : Mr. Salmon, the president ; Mr.
Rowell, the secretary ; Major Ladd, and E. P. Spaulding, Esq., an
ex-President. I shall ever be grateful to him for his attention and
kind regard which he manifested in my welfare, in placing me in
charge of Major Emery, proprietor of the Merrimack House, who so
willingly took me around the city, showed me the public buildings
and public works. I can truly say, that whoever visits the Middle-
sex North Agricultural Society will find a warm and hearty recep-
tion^ judging from the past. But I must return to my report.

The display of stock was fair. The town-teams of Tyngsborough
and Dracut both arrived in the city about half-past eight, and were
escorted to the fair-ground by the Pepperell Cornet Band, twenty-
six yoke of oxen from Tyngsborough, and fourteen from Dracut.
Both wagons were handsomely decorated with flowers and ever-
greens. In both wagons were several young ladies, dressed in
white, who attracted great attention.

On the whole, the show of oxen and steers was very good. Two
pairs of yearling steers were worthy of notice, presented by Charles
Cumins, each pair weighing 2,000 pounds, well-matched and well-
trained Shorthorn Durhams.

Jeptha Cumins, Moses Davis, D. F. Rogers, Abbot Russell, and
Doctor Norman Smith, exhibited good cattle of different ages.
D. R. Upham, of Wilmington, showed a fine Jersey bull. W. P.
Varnum, of Dracut, had an Ayrshire. Z. P. Proctor, of Dunstable,
had a Shorthorn Durham, and D. Bacheler, of North Reading, had
a Brittany bull.

Milch cows were exhibited by Z. P. Procter and Doctor N. Smith,
of good milking qualities. Francis Bowman, of Billerica, had on
exhibition a cow, five years old, with two pairs of twins by her side.
The difference in their ages is ten months four clays.

Moses Davis, of Dunstable, exhibited two fine specimens of sheep,
— one buck and one ewe ; the only contributor in this class.

Some excellent specimens of swine were presented by J. Flynn,
F. Falconer, A. C. Ayer, W. Parkhurst and T. Hardisty. The
contributions were not large, but of good quality.

The trial of working-oxen and horses, on cart, was rather severe,
as I thought ; the gross weight of load being 4,800 pounds, net
weight, 3,500 pounds, and the wheels both blocked with a three-
by-four joist on rising ground. This is what I call rather hard
starting.

The horse-teams were tested in the same wa}T, only the net weight

APPENDIX ix

was 6,800 pounds. But the first pair of horses on trial was a
powerful pair, belonging to the city of Lowell, and hard to be
matched. It was remarked by spectators that the horses would
weigh 3,000 pounds. Certainly, they performed the work well.
"W. Parker and J. Phelps each entered a pair of fine horses, well
matched ; but the load was too much for them, — one single horse-
team, net weight of load, 2,800 pounds, the weight of horse, 1,000
pounds. The work was well done. I would recommend that the
society test their teams with a lighter load hereafter. The trial of
gentlemen's driving-horses, roadsters and travellers, was good.

The show of poultry was fair. The number of contributors was
rather small. I will name a few of the principal exhibitors : C. L.
Parker, J. H. Nichols, G. E. Locke, H. Brown, G-. F. Parsons, W. B.
French, and several others who contributed to the feathered tribe.

The basement of the building was occupied by the vegetable-show,
which was, on the whole, a good exhibition. A. O. Sampson, P. D.
and T. S. Edwards, of East Chelmsford, had fine displays. L. W.
Lewis, and E. T. Snow (a lad twelve years old) made an excellent
show of vegetables of all kinds, — an example worthy of imitation by
other boys. Other contributors added largely to the show.

In this department, a pair of boots were exhibited which were
made forty years ago, and have been worn every year since, without
repair. This is rather discouraging to the boot trade. Also, a
wooden plough, which looked to be more than a hundred years old,
was exhibited as a relic of antiquity. This implement shows what
our fathers had to work with.

The fruit was abundant, — a great variety of apples, pears, etc.,
and fine display of grapes of nearly eveiy variet}'.

And last, but not least, the ladies' department was the crowning
feature of the exhibition. The display of patchwork was large and
creditable. Mrs. J. Tarbell, of Lowell, exhibited a cabin-worked
quilt, made by Mrs. A. Prentice, ninety-three }-ears old. Mrs. R. S.
Brown, of Stoneham, showed three splendid silk quilts. Mrs. L.
Brown, two quilts, manufactured of 7,200 pieces, and Mrs. R. S.
Brown, of Stoneham, a knit-spread of 1,170 shells.

The display of plants and flowers was splendid, certainly. The
ladies performed their part admirably.

At this crisis of the exhibition, dinner was announced. We moved
directly to the upper hall, where 275 plates were laid, and nearly
every seat was occupied. It was certainly a very enjoyable occa-
sion. After satisfying the inner man, short, sharp and spicy-
speeches, by distinguished gentlemen, were listened to with interest.
On the whole, the entire show was a success.

Daniel Dwigiit.

2*

EEPORTS OF DELEGATES.

WORCESTER.

The 17th of September, 1874, opened the fifty-sixth annual
exhibition of the Worcester Agricultural Society.

The lowering state of the weather made it uncomfortable for man
and beast. Notwithstanding, there was a fair attendance, and the
managers manifested a commendable zeal in carrying out the pro-
gramme for the day.

The show of cattle was superior, both as to number and quality.
In fact, I have seldom met so large a collection, and all so good.
Their owners must have. been proud men, then and there. Who
could view those long lines of splendid cattle without feeling proud
for the owners, even, and for the county that could produce them ?
I could but think, that, if those eminent men whose great hearts
and strong hands were the means of organizing, more than fifty years
age, this grand old society, — men who could manage a state or an
agricultural society with equal ability, — could look upon this fine dis-
play, the}' would be more than satisfied with the result of their labors.

The total number of entries was between 1,100 and 1,200; and
the fair was a success, notwithstanding the inclement weather. Each
and every department was well represented ; and I might go on, page
after page, in describing the products presented, and still fall short
of a full description.

The exercises at the table were most agreeable. Prof. Stockbridge
made a very able address, followed by our worthy Secretary, who
complimented the ladies (as usual).

This was my first visit to this, the oldest society in the county.
I had visited each of the five offsets, or children, of this mother of
societies, and I cannot see but that she is as hale and hearty as the
fairest of her daughters. I could but notice one fact, that the chil-
dren cherish a kindly feeling for this good old mother ; for I met a
goodly number of representatives from the other societies in the
county, who seemed to act and feel as though they had got home
again, and brought something to show that the}' have not been idle.
This is right, and I hope this feeling will alwaj'S be cherished.

Eliphalet Stone.

WORCESTER WEST.

The annual exhibition of this enterprising and prosperous society
•was held at Barre on the 24th and 25th clays of September last, but
your delegate was not able to be present, on account of sickness

APPENDIX. xi

which confined him to his bed. He has, however, obtained informa-
tion from competent judges that witnessed the exhibition, which
authorizes him to submit the subjoined facts.

The weather was most beautiful and propitious, the exhibition
extensive, and the attendance very large. The ploughing-match
took place on the morning of the first day, with six entries of oxen
and eight of horses. This was followed by the trial of working-oxen
and horses, and the display of horses on the track, the details of
which I am unable to give at this time.

One of the most noticeable features of the fair was, as usual, its
dairy-stock, for which this section of the State has long been cele-
brated ; and it was agreed on all hands that this department fully
sustained its well-earned reputation.

Formerly, the Shorthorns were more largely grown, the rich
pasturage of that region being especially adapted to this breed ; but
the enterprise of modern days opened the way for the introduction
of other breeds which give evidence of being equally valuable to the
farmer. There were on exhibition 83 Shorthorns, 62 Ayrshires, 44
Jerse3rs, and 29 Dutch cattle. Besides these, there were 14 head of
fat cattle, 88 swine, 34 sheep, and 22 entries of poultry. The cattle
were of excellent character ; and what is especially to be com-
mended, the bulls were nearly all thoroughbred animals, and about
one-fourth of the cows were full-blood. Herds of the various breeds
were shown in their appropriate classes, among which was a herd of
15 Jerseys, 16 grade Ayrshires, one cow nineteen years old, and ances-
tor to nearly the whole herd. Dairy-cows were also shown in herds of
three to five, or more. The display of fat cattle, although not large,
was fine, led off as they were by the monster oxen of Elliot Swan,
of Worcester, and Mr. Mixter's fat oxen, — the latter weighing 4,220
pounds.

The display of butter and cheese, as usual, was large, and was
exhibited without the names of the competitors, as it ever should
be, so that no prejudice or partiality could be exercised by the
judges. And such was, also, the case with the bread, which occupied
a large space on the table.

The exhibition in the hall was varied and excellent. The display
of vegetables and fruits was large and fine, especially the apples,
for which Worcester County has long been celebrated.

But what added interest and dignity to the occasion, was the
presence of many distinguished guests, who spoke words of com-
mendation and encouragement to the members of the society.
Among these were His Honor Lieutenant-Governor Talbot, ex-Gov-
ernor Emory Washburn, Hon. Charles L. Flint, Secretary of the
State Board of Agriculture, Hon. Oliver Warner, Secretary of State,

xii REPORTS OF DELEGATES.

Hon. Charles Adams, Treasurer of the State, and others, who spoke
in praise of the exhibition.

To none, however, is the society more indebted for its prestige
and enterprise than to its President, Hon. Ginery Twichell, whose
indomitable energ}' and enterprise are sure to crown with success
the labors of his hand.

All of which is submitted by

Marshall P. Wilder.

WORCESTER NORTH-WEST.

I started on the morning of October 6th, and on arriving at
Springfield, found that the onby train to Athol, in season to give me
any view of the exhibition that day, had gone, so that I might as
well remain in Springfield until the next morning. Therefore I went
back to West Springfield and spent the day at the Hampden County
Fair. The following morning I was on hand for the first train for
Athol, and on my arrival, found all parties alive for the horse-trot,
which, in its different divisions, occupied the whole of the da}\

I felt disappointed not to have seen the stock on the first day, as
I have to confess a preference for that part of the exhibition. But
the best thing seemed to be to improve what remained.

I soon found the energetic secretaiy, and was introduced to
several officers and gentlemen. Mr. Johnson, reporter for the
" Homestead," who had canvassed the field thoroughly, generously
offered to give me the benefit of his knowledge, by showing me the
different objects of interest. Thus I gained such information as 1
wanted, without taking much of the officers' time, who always have
enough to do during the exhibition.

The grounds of the society comprise something over twenty acres,
with a half-mile track, laid out in oblong shape, and so arranged as
to be very good for trotting purposes.

The improvements made the past year have been : a good music-
stand, repairing of track and grading grounds, which, I learned, had
been done by voluntary labor and money from the members of the
different towns, by appointing a day for a " bee," which pleased
so well as to be carried on through the week, the ladies sending in
provisions and keeping them well fed, which helped to make it a time
of real enjoyment ; the amount thus expended in repairs being
three hundred dollars.

B}T the entries I noticed 14 classes of cattle, comprising the various

APPENDIX. xiii

kinds usually on exhibition ; nine classes of horses, one each of
sheep, swine and poultry ; with ploughing-match, foot-race, boat-
race, sack-race, fruits, plants, vegetables, seeds, butter, cheese,
bread, mechanic arts, specimens of darning, painting, drawing, pen-
manship, etc.

I noticed liberal premiums awarded to misses, by a friend, for
" darning." Skill displayed in this eminently useful accomplish-
ment is worthy of encouragement and imitation. When art is
brought to bear upon the every-day wants of mankind, it should be
met with all clue praise to the fair competitors, as a healtlry incentive
to perfection.

There was much in all of the departments of handiwork that
elicited well-deserved encomiums ; but I have not space in this
report to particularize.

The address, the first day (I learned), was by Hon. William B.
Washburn, who was followed by William B. Spooner, of Boston,
Thomas P. Root (our associate), and an original poem by Rev.
Mr. Peters.on, of Athol.

The second day, ex-Mayor Gaston (now Governor) made a brief
address, which was well received, and he was followed by several
other gentlemen from abroad.

In the trotting, there were seven different classes, and each well
represented. The programme was carried out promptly and very
thoroughly, and the contest in several of the classes was unusually
close and exciting. The time made in one class, of three heats, was
2.40, 2.40 and 2.41.

It was judged that there were between six and seven thousand
people present the last day ; still, good order and harmony through-
out were secured.

From what I saw of the officers of the society, and their work, I
think they are men of energy, perseverance and skill, and that there
is a growing interest in the vicinity among the members.

J. McElwain.

WORCESTER NORTH.

Arriving at Fitchburg, I was very kindly and courteously greeted,
and cared for by the officers of the society.

The fair-grounds are located about one mile from the city, and
are ample and quite well arranged for a successful exhibition.

Sheds, of a somewhat temporary character, are provided for the
protection of cattle, and stables for the horses. A protection from

xiv REPORTS OF DELEGATES.

the weather appears to be a necessity for this societ}r, if we may
judge from the report of its secretaiy, which says, " The weather
was all that the oldest attendant had a right, founded upon long
experience, to expect, being cold, rainy and disagreeable to the last
degree." It further states, " It is to be regretted that when the
general court, in its wisdom, fixed the day of holding the annual
show, it should have neglected to settle the weather also."

I insert the above for the consideration of the Board, that if it can
arrange, by consulting " Old Probabilities," or through any other
source, for the relief of the society, its labor of love will be grate-
fully appreciated.

I learn that this society has been under a cloud for several years,
from the weather and other causes. I trust the members will not
deem the suggestion officious, that the}r may have made a mistake
in deciding to hold their fair but one day instead of two, as formerly.
Had it been otherwise the present year, they would have enjoyed
one fair day, and probably have much replenished their treasury.
The expense and labor of arrangement for a cattle-show is all
incurred for one day that would be required for two or more, and
mone}r being one of the necessities of an agricultural society as well
as of all other enterprises, it seems desirable that a society should
avail itself of all opportunities or chances for favorable weather. I
trust our friends will not give way to despondency. The sun
always shines, although its light may be obscured for a time.
Perseverance and honorable endeavor will secure success. "We
must all learn " to labor and to wait."

The character of the exhibition, as a whole, was commendable,
and I accord with the following statement of the secretary : —

" The show of neat-stock was remarkably fine. The herds of
Shorthorns, Ayrshires, Jerseys and Jamestowns presented an
exhibition of thoroughbred stock seldom equalled at cattle-shows.
The display of working-oxen and fat cattle was good."

That of poulhy was exceptionally so.

The trial of working-oxen and steers, of family-teams, gentle-
men's driving-horses, etc., all duly occurred. But as the society's
building afforded much better protection than our umbrella, we were
content to take it for granted that part of the exhibition was per-
fectly satisfactory.

The display in the hall, though not extensive in some of its
departments, was creditable. The fanc}'-work evinced the active
minds that designed, the skill of the fair hands that wrought, and
could hardly be excelled.

The exhibition of flowers was very fine. The quality of the fruit
was good.

APPENDIX. xv

If our minutes are correct, there were but six contributions of
butter and four of cheese, — rather limited for a section of Worcester
County.

There were also on exhibition pianofortes, sewing-machines,
stoves and tinware, carriages, gentlemen's furnishing-goods, cloth-
ing, boots, etc.

A very good dinner was provided by the society, after which the
usual "feast of reason" was indulged in. The social character of
agricultural exhibitions is not the least in importance of the benefits
secured by such gatherings.

After the exercises at the table, there was an exhibition of
trotting-horses, and, despite the rain, quite a large company as-
sembled at the track.

In relation to this exercise, the secretary says : " Two years ago,
this branch of the exhibition was discontinued, on the ground of
reform, and because 'horse-trotting was losing favor among the agri-
cultural societies of New England.' As in most reforms, attention
was wholly given to effects, while causes were neglected ; the re-
former's one idea substituted for human experience and average
common sense ; and the result was a depleted treasury, and an
increased demand for horse-trots ; while, instead of ' losing favor/ no
agricultural society in New England has been without its horse-trot
the present season, and still the standard of morals is believed to
be as high as ever."

Perhaps we err in referring to the above statement ; but it is with
reference to its general character, and not its local connection, that
we would venture criticism. Presuming that the idea of the change
in public sentiment which he asserts, may be a pervading opinion of
that societ}r or community, to which he has merely given expression
in his report, we do not propose to discuss the merits or demerits
of horse-trotting generalby, or its effects on the morals of the com-
munit3T, nor the propriety of trotting and betting in connection with
our agricultural fairs ; but simply to inquire if it be true that a
change has come over the dreams of our agricultural societies in
this matter, and if " no societ}' in New England has been without
its horse-trot the present season." We will refer to only two author-
ities, of many that might be quoted, both of which we deem repre-
sentative in their character, and properly reflecting the public senti-
ment in relation to the first query.

The first is in a report of the New England Fair of 1874 (see
Massachusetts "Ploughman" of Sept. 19), in which the following
occurs : " The races at the fair this year were not, perhaps, as
attractive as in }rears past to those loving a good race, as the
premiums offered for trials of speed were small, and consequently

xvi REPORTS OF DELEGATES.

the owners of horses of fast records could not afford to enter when
there were much larger purses offered at the same time at the M}-stic
and other parks of New England. It was the intention of the two
societies at the exhibition of this year not to make the horse-trotting
such an important feature as to detract from other portions of the
fair, and this plan, with these ideas in view, was admirably carried
out. About one-half the amount of mone}- was spent for trotting
as was devoted to this feature of the fair of last year ; and though
the entries were small, and containing no horses of much note, }'et
the people on two days filled the grand stand and appeared to enjoy
the trotting as much as if the horses had been better and the
premiums larger."

In the Massachusetts "Ploughman" of January 30, 1875, an
editorial on the " Management of Fairs," after discussing with candor
and great fairness the question of mere trials of speed of horses at
fairs, concludes as follows : " We cannot avoid the conclusion
that, in the long run, horse-racing, as now generally conducted,
must operate very unfavorably upon the interests of our agricultural
societies."

In reply to the second statement, we will simply say, that in the
Old Colony there are two societies, — one having held its sixteenth
and the other its eighth annual exhibition the past year, — and
not one dollar has ever been offered or paid as premium Itv either
society for horse-trotting, or mere trial of speed, since their organ-
ization.

In regard to their success, as compared with other societies in the
Commonwealth, it may not be proper for me to speak ; but I am
pleased to refer to reports of delegates to the Hingham and Marsh-
field societies, as published in the annual reports of our honored
Secretar}'.

G. M. Baker.

WORCESTER SOUTH-EAST.

The illness of our mutual friend, the Hon. Albert Fearing, pre-
vented him from attending the exhibition. I was requested to attend
and report the doings.

My engagement at Amherst prevented nry being present on the
first day. The morning of the second day opened bright and cool.
The storm of the day before compelled most of the owners of dairy
cows to take them home for shelter, and but few returned the
second da}' ; so that one great feature of a cattle-show was lost to
me. However, there was a fair representation from the immediate

APPENDIX. xvii

neighborhood of working-oxen. There was a good show ; between
30 and 40 yoke were present, and among them many fine cattle that
showed most excellent training. The town-teams from Uxbridge
and Mendon, and from Sutton and Charlton, were so nearly equal that
it was difficult to find a committee to decide upon their merits. But
few sheep and swine were on the ground, but those few were superior.
The usual show of poultiy was present. The horse was the great
feature of the day, and as the time approached for the display, large
delegations of his admirers filled the grounds, and a better-natured
crowd of people I never met, and I should judge that their enthu-
siasm might last to crown the next as a perfect success.

The interior of the hall presented a very fine appearance. The
show of fruit, flowers and vegetables was good, and the admirable
manner of their arrangement showed most excellent judgment. The
bread and butter looked good enough to eat without the addition
of hone}T, preserves and jellies, that lined the tables in great abun-
dance, and the ladies' department in domestic and fancy articles
tended to show that their whole time is not devoted to the making
of butter and preserves.

The mechanical department was full}' represented. The dinner
was commended by every one that tried its good qualities ; but I
noticed many empt}' seats. The after-dinner speeches had the right
ring. They have ministers up there who talk farming as though
they knew what they were talking about, and if any of the societies
or farmers' clubs want to have a good, sensible talk on farming, let
them send for the Rev. M. Richardson, of Milford, or the Rev.
George S. Ball, of Upton.

And, on the whole, I should say, that the exhibition was a com-
plete success.

Eliphalet Stonk.

HAMPSHIRE, FRANKLIN AND HAMPDEN.

In accordance with my appointment, I visited the Hampshire,
Franklin and Hampden Societ}r at their fifty-sixth annual exhibition,
on their grounds at Northampton, the 7th, 8th and 9th of October.

Upon entering the ground, your delegate was received with eveiy
mai*k of courtesy and attention, and every facility possible was
afforded me to witness the exhibition in all its departments. This
society is one of the oldest in the State, and has a most honorable
record in what it has accomplished in the past. Embracing as it
does within its limits three counties, and stretching from Vermont
and New Hampshire, on the north, down the fertile valley of the
3*

xviii REPORTS OF DELEGATES.

Connecticut, to the state line on the south, it covers a tract of
country, perhaps unsurpassed in the State for agricultural pur-
poses. Since its formation, other societies have been chartered
within its original limits, which, in some respects, are honorable
rivals, and admonish the parent society to keep up a vigorous and
healthy growth for its future usefulness.

Some of the earliest breeders of thoroughbred stock in the State
were in this valley, and the effect of their example was remarkably
apparent at this exhibition, where the largest part of the animals
were pure breed, there being 85 entries of this class. Some of them
were herds of from five to twelve in number, and of very uniform
excellence and type.

The principal exhibitors of Shorthorns were Messrs. Judd, Bates
and Chamberlin, of South Haclley. Within the limits of this society
can probably be found more pure-breed Shorthorns, if not also Ayr-
shires, than in an}T other in the State. Some of the first to introduce
this strain of blood were the Huntingtons, of Hadley, in 1834. In
1837, Paoli Lathrop established a herd, and continued to breed with
much success for many years. Others have followed, and now in
almost every neighborhood may be found some finely-developed
animals of this breed.

Ayrshires were represented b}T Thorp and Chase, of Northamp-
ton, Hubbard, of Sunderland, and the Agricultural College. Haskell,
of Deerfielcl, Chase and Allen, of Northampton, had some fine
Jerseys.

Of grade Shorthorns there were some very fine stock represented
by H. S. Porter, and a herd of 25 from the State Lunatic Hospital.
Zeri Smith, of Deerfield, entered a herd of 17 in this class, bred and
raised by himself for the dairy, showing such marks of excellence
that they were worthy of notice and commendation.

Of the 16 entries for bulls of all ages, we have rarely, if ever,
seen a better exhibition at a county fair.

For sheep, one flock of choice Southdowns — six bucks, three
ewes and one lamb — covers the ground in this department.

Swine were less in number, the Agricultural College and the State
Hospital competing for the honor of the best boar, — the former
carrying off the prize.

Fowls : The entries in the poultry division were worthy of exam-
ination, and said to be the best ever made by the society. *

For the display in the hall of all the wondrous gifts of nature and
the arts, — which the devices of man, and, more especialby, the handi-
work of woman, adorned in rich profusion, with refined and cultured
taste, — we have no tongue to give fitting praise, or pen to transcribe
all that we saw that was pleasing, instructive and useful.

APPENDIX. xix

Tables were well filled with apples, pears and peaches, of choice
varieties, preserved fruit, wine and hone}'.

The bread and butter were excellent and abundant ; but oh
for a Barre man ! — where was the cheese ? And echo answered
— where ?

In the mechanic arts, both in the first and second division, includ-
ing the lighter and heavier implements, there was a good represen-
tation ; and we are pleased to notice that they are constantly-
receiving inspection by observing inquirers.

The second dajr was devoted to horses. At ten o'clock, all the
horses entered for exhibition were arranged in classes, and passed
twice around the track, under the lead of the marshals and a band of
musicians. Then followed the examination by committees of the
different departments. The draught-horses were tested on heavily-
weighted wagons and stone-boats. There was a large' a number of
entries here, — all well-trained and powerful animals. The skill of
the horsemen, the obedience and education of the animals, and the
feats performed, in our judgment, were second to none on the
ground. One horse drew a load of three tons, on turf ground, with
comparative ease.

Stallions, breeding-mares and colts, of all ages, were well repre-
sented, and showed much good judgment and intelligence in the
selection and breeding of this most important class.

One noticeable feature — a new one to us — was town-teams of
horses, — Easthampton carrying off the first prize.

Perhaps the chief interest centred in the exhibition of carriage
and driving horses, pairs and single. The horses were carefully
examined by the committees, and then given a few turns around the
track. Some very fine animals were presented, and the large num-
ber of lookers-on seemed well pleased with the display, and the
owners had a right to feel a little proud of their possessions.

After the dinner in the hall, on the second day, the society
listened to their annual address, which was delivered by H. M. Burt,
Esq., editor of the " Homestead," and was full of practical thoughts
and suggestions.

This society had, for the first time, an exhibition on three succes-
sive days. The third was advertised as a " special benefit " day.
The special benefit expected was more money. The day was devoted
to the trial of the speed of horses on the track, the fastest horse
taking the first premium. The different classes of entries common
to such occasions, were made, and the programme carried out with
apparentl}' all the satisfactory results that could be expected.

This society appears to be well officered by active and intelligent
farmers, who may well take an honest pride in the success of every

XX

EEPOETS OF DELEGATES.

department of this annual fair ; and we may reasonably expect that
their efforts to cancel their indebtedness will soon be realized, and
they will no longer feel compelled to have a " special benefit," to
which the people are invited, and for which no useful lesson for the
home, the farm, the shop, or of pleasing, satisfied and refreshing
memory is drawn, further than seeing competing horsemen, with
noble animals trained to the utmost tension of muscle ; the tedious
" scoring" for the lead under the " wire " ; the rush, the skips and
breaks of the race ; the best driver ; time, 2.50 ; the horse winning
the " heat," time, 2.50 ; horses blanketed ; clearing the track ; bring-
ing up the next class. Five or six hours of close and exciting
attention are given ; the crowd go home ; the people have had a
holida}-. The exhibition is a success, because a §1,200 weight has
been lifted from the treasur}\

"Whether the extra da}' given to the exhibition was, on the whole,
of profit, we need not attempt to "say ; but perhaps we may be
allowed to express a fear that horse-racing may create an over-
shadowing influence and excitement, which will leave in the back-
ground the grand and noble purposes for which our societies were
formed.

From the treasurer's report, it w

receipts at the gate on the first
On the second day,
third day, .
Grand stand,
Rent of grounds, .
Entrance fees for horses,

rould appear that

the

da}-, were .

8180 00

695 00

1,504 00

: : : :

154 00
562 00

644 00

land of treasurer,

1,215 00

Assets December I, 1874.

Fair-grounds, about 17 acres and buildings, .
Personal property, .....
Liabilities, .......

814,000 00

300 00

8,200 00

A few days since, we received a copy of the Secretary's report, and
in looking it over, we were struck with much surprise at the entire"
absence of anything in connection with the premiums, except the
sum awarded, and to whom. Now is this as it should be? We
rarely have met a more intelligent, energetic and successful class of
farmers than on this occasion, — men who understand their business
and succeed. Those who made the examinations, as committees,
thoroughly understood the reasons for their good judgment, and

APPENDIX. xxi

how success is attained, while some of them are experts in the pro-
duction of the articles or stock the}r examined, and the light and
and knowledge which has guided them in some sense belongs to
the State. We sa}r in all sincerity to our brother-farmers on the
river, when you again make out the report of your transactions,
" put in an appearance." In conclusion, your delegate will only sa}7,
that his visit was full of satisfaction to himself and faith in the
Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden Agricultural Society.

Thos. P. Root.

HAMPSHIRE.

The morning of the first day of the exhibition, September 29,
the weather was unpropitious, with showers and mist enough to
dampen the ardor of most men. Notwithstanding, the farmers and
managers were on hand, and the programme for the day was fully
carried out.

Sixty yoke of cattle appeared in the track procession, including
many fine animals. The milking-stock was not as extensive as I
have met on like occasions ; but among them were herds and indi-
viduals that would be hard to beat. The large herd, belonging to
the Agricultural College, under the superintendence of Farmer Dillon,
was present, and though not entered for premium, it added greatly
to the interest of the occasion. I could but notice the interest taken
in these cattle by the students of the Farmer's College.

Sheep and swine not extensive, but fine specimens.

The poultry department was well filled by representatives from
nearly all the fine breeds.

The display in the hall was very fine. Fruits of all kinds were in
abundance, and superior in quality. We seldom meet with so fine a
collection. The heaps of grapes and peaches reminded me of the
days before the prevalence of yellows and mildew. The vegetable
department, including all the cultivated products of the farm, would
do credit to any part of the State. There were 37 entries of bread,
butter • and cheese, together with canned-fruits and other tidbits in
profusion.

There were 150 entries in the domestic and fancy departments ;
and in the mechanical department you could find anything, from a
horse-cart to a monkey-wrench.

After the dinner came the address by Prof. Seel3'e, who stated
the subject to be " Money," and the monetary affairs of the nation
were handled in a masterly manner.

xxii EEPORTS OF DELEGATES.

The exhibition of horses was in progress when I left, and was said
to be first-rate.

The exhibition was a success in everything but attendance, and
no one was answerable for that but the cold, rainy weather.

Eliphalet Stone.

HIGHLAND.

The annual exhibition of the Highland Agricultural Society was
held at Middlefield, on September 10 and 11, 1874.

Being present, in the absence of the regular delegate of the
Board, I submit the following report.

The weather both days was good, but, owing to the bad condition
of the roads, the attendance was smaller than it otherwise would
have been.

The first day was devoted to the reception and arrangement of
the stock on the grounds, and the examination by 'the various com-
mittees ; also the arrangement of the articles in the hall for exhibi-
tion, foot-race, drawing-match, etc.

The show of cattle was in many respects unusually good, the
number of entries being as follows : bulls, 7, all good animals ;
working-oxen, 11 pairs; steers, 17 pairs; most of them of good
form, thrifty and in good condition. The number of cows, and
heifers three years old, was 28 ; most of which would grace any man's
farm-yard, and no doubt would please his wife and visiting friends
and neighbors by the quantity and quality of milk and butter they
would yield. The number of herds, 7 ; sheep, coarse-wool, 15 ; and
fine-wool, 13 ; all attracting due attention, being of good quality.

The exhibition of swine and poultry, though good in quality, was
somewhat limited in numbers, there being but one entry of swine
and five of poultry.

The display in the hall was not large, but very creditable, consist-
ing of the following entries : agricultural productions, 49 ; fruit and
vegetables, 31 ; butter and cheese, 53 ; domestic manufactures, 24 ;
needle-work, 29 ; flowers and house-plants, 13 ; paintings, 10 ; mis-
cellaneous articles, 64.

The second day, on the one-third-mile track, which is on the
society's grounds, were shown 5 stallions, 9 mares and colts, 13
colts, 13 carriage-horses, 15 business horses, 3 walkers and 3 trot-
ters, some of which it would be difficult to excel in general appear-
ance, style or speed. This track is by no means a race-course, and
cannot be used as such with safety to the driver, for rocks and stones
may break his bones, etc.

APPENDIX. xxiii

The address, which was delivered by the Hon. George B. Loring,
was listened to with marked pleasure by a goodly number, after
which the premiums were then paid, which wound up the exercises
of the fair.

F. C. Knox.

FRANKLIN.

The twenty-fifth annual exhibition of the Franklin County Agri-
cultural Fair was held at Greenfield, on the 24th, 25th and 26th of
September. The experiment of a three-days meeting proved suc-
cessful, the attendance being greater on the last than the first da}\

As a delegate from this Board, I regret to sa}^ that circumstances
beyond nry control prevented my reaching Greenfield until late in
the afternoon of the 24th. At this time a considerable portion of
the stock had been removed, to the disappointment of hundreds who
were not able to be on the grounds the first day. It is proper here
to sa}' that it is for the interest of the society that exhibitors should
be required to^eep their stock on the ground at least two daj-s.

Franklin Count}7 presents a genuine old-fashioned cattle-show.
But few societies have done more to promote agriculture and horti-
culture than this ; and the earnest endeavors were so clearly mani-
fest to outdo all former efforts, that its farmers, for the first time,
seemed to realize that the cattle-show and fair had entirely outgrown
its present grounds.

An interesting feature of the first da}r was at the grand stand.
The approach of the Greenfield Cornet Band was the signal to con-
centrate there to listen to the address from Professor Stockbridge,
of the Amherst Agricultural College. When the assembly came to
order, prayer was offered by Rev. H. C. Manson, of Greenfield,
when the president introduced the speaker. He took as his subject,
" The Obstacles to Successful Agriculture in New England," which
was admirably treated. It was full of sound, practical common-
sense, and highly appreciated by all present. His opening argu-
ment was, that successful agriculture depends upon a fertile soil, a
genial climate, and a good market, all of which New England pos-
sesses. But, unfortunately, it is the general opinion among New
England farmers that the only place for successful agriculture is in
the far West, where there is no hard-pan soil, etc. One factor must
always be remembered — the man himself who practises the indus-
try. If agriculture is simply a series of spoliations of the soil, then
the West is the place ; but if, on the other hand, agriculture means
tillage and breaking up of the soil, that nature may work, then the
great obstacle to. New England farming is removed, provided we

xxiv REPORTS OF DELEGATES.

entertain these ideas and practise upon them. It is folly to argue
ttiat tLe soils of New England are old and sterile, for the soils of
Old England are yielding crops with more profusion than ever before.
One of the most flagrant obstacles to successful agriculture in New
England is the ownership of too much land by farmers. It ought
to be distinctly understood by farmers that all the land a man owns
should be used with equal fairness, and average farmers should not
own more than they can actually cultivate. Many farmers are kept
poor by the taxes on that part of their farms from which they derive
no benefit. The annual cost to support fences in the United States
is $250,000,000, and of this, $30,000,000 are expended in Massachu-
setts ; and in this regard alone could the farmer's expenses be greatly
lessened by occupying smaller farms. Many men in Franklin County,
he said, are paying taxes on two hundred acres, while an income is
derived from scarcely one hundred acres. He thought that another
obstacle was either the want of capital or the discrimination to use
it in farming operations. " He would be ashamed to engage in a
business in which he did not dare to invest his money ; " yet this is
a general fault among farmers. It is generally thought agriculture
can be pursued by any one, and that if a man fails in every other
occupation, he can turn to farming; but, he added, we have to deal
with more intricate forces than any other class of people, and it is our
duty to fully understand our business. He thought that a majority
were not capable of running their farms, and for this reason he
would fit our young men for the work, and not leave them to grope
in darkness.

I was informed that Franklin County never before exhibited so
large and choice an array of blooded-stock. The mouarchs of the stall
were the thoroughbred bulls, of which there were 17 entries, a larger
number than ever presented before. Six of these were Shorthorn, eight
Jersey, two Devon and five Ayrshire. Of the Jersey bulls, a three-
year-old, entered by T. M. Stoughton, of Gill, attracted much atten-
tion ; while those exhibited by D. O. Fisk, of Shelburne, and H. C.
Haskell, of Deerfield, were grand to look upon. S. W. Hall, of Green-
field, exhibited a thoroughbred Devon bull, thirteen months old,
which was an animal of great promise. A three-year-old Shorthorn,
entered by Zeri Smith, of Deerfield, was a " thing of beauty." The
Shorthorn bulls entered by Lowell S. Brown, of Shelburne, and
Charles Parsons, Jr., of Conway, were noticeable for their great
beauty. That of Mr. Conway was twenty-eight months old, and
turned the scales at 1,900 pounds. Two Ayrshires, much admired,
were exhibited by D. O. Fisk.

The exhibition of thoroughbred cows, comprising 25 entries, was
equal, if not superior, to former years. Thirteen were Shorthorns,

APPENDIX. xxv

ten Jerseys and two Devons. A Durham stock-cow, entered by
William Bard well, of Shelburne, weighed 1,G15 pounds, while her
youngest daughter, at her side, weighed 760 pounds. D. and H.
Wells exhibited 19 handsome cows, mostly Shorthorns. G. P. and
W. W. Carpenter, of Shelburne, are extensive raisers of stock, and
exhibited four handsome Shorthorns. A 1,590 pound grade Short-
horn, six years old, was shown by A. Kellogg, of Shelburne ; sev-
eral cows whose developments in the udder line were astonishing.
Of herds of neat-stock, there were eight entries. The exhibition of
working oxen was large and unusually attractive.

The exhibition of sheep was not large, but included several flocks
of the choicest varieties. Of fine-wool sheep there were six entries ;
of middle-wool, 37 ; of long-wool, 24 ; and of sheep for stall-feeding,
five. The pigpens were not so well filled as on some former occa-
sions, nevertheless they contained some excellent specimens. The
show of poultry consisted of 15 entries. An attractive feature of the
day was the town-team from Bernardston, which consisted of a large
wagon loaded down with the fruit of the farm, garden and forest,
with a bright-eyed maiden in charge, the whole drawn by 20 yoke of
oxen.

The second day was almost entirely devoted to horses. No cattle-
show is complete, now-a-days, without a "horse-trot"; and, with
this fact in view, the society offered a purse of $100, to be trotted
for by stallions, on the mile track at Petty's Plain. The first money
won was in 2.29, by "Buckland Boy," a horse of light weight,
young and of great promise for speed. Here farmers drive their
own horses. Gentlemen of Franklin, when exhibiting their steeds,
don't hesitate to take the ribbons and drive themselves. Although
a specialty is made of fine cattle, the farmers are almost equally
proud of their horses ; and at this time an unusually large number
of valuable animals, some of which lay claim to good blood, were
on exhibition. The saddle-horses first took the track, of which there
were eight entries, several of them young and promising animals.
The stallion show consisted of four entries, and would do credit to
an}" county fair in the State. Twelve breeding-mares, some of them
accompanied bjr their offspring, answered to the call. One of the
most satisfactoiy exhibitions of the day was that of two and three
year old geldings and mare colts. Among these, was the gelding
" Dashing Spray," owned by Henry Nye, of Conway.

The hall exhibition was extensively visited, and during every
evening thronged with the farmers and their wives and daughters
from every part of the county. The society is indebted, in a great
degree, to Whitney L. Warner, of Sunderland, for the success of
this department of the fair. During the first year of his charge of
4*

xxvi REPORTS OF DELEGATES.

the hall, Mr. Warner was obliged to fill up the tables with purchased
fruit ; but under his management the exhibition has continued to
improve in quantity and quality, until the hall is now too small to
accommodate the contributions. Mr. Warner himself had 92 vari-
eties of choice fruit on exhibition ; 95 varieties were also shown by
F. D. Fiske, of Shelburne. In the display of apples, W. and G. H.
Stewart, of Coleraine, were ahead in the best display in the hall.
A. P. Cooley, of Deerfield, showed 95 excellent varieties of miscel-
laneous fruit. In the displa}T of grapes, Jacob Sleeglieder, of Shel-
burne Falls, bore off the palm. Edward H. Judd and son, of South
Hadley, had also a profuse exhibition of this fruit. The Judds also
entered 26 varieties of choice pears. Baskets of miscellaneous fruit
were entered by Misses E. M. Wells and C. E. Peck, and Mrs. C.E.
Bardwell and J. D. Peck, all of Shelburne, which were veiy attrac-
tive. The display of vegetables was not large, but of the best
quality. W. L. Warner presented some mammoth squashes, — two
of his " Marbleheads " turning the scales at 239 pounds.

The floral display was also beautiful. This was enhanced by an
exquisite array of choice cut-flowers, furnished hy L. M. He3Twood,
of Greenfield. An unique affair was that of a large agricultural
wreath, representing birds, flowers, etc., the whole made of seeds by
Mrs. C. P. C. Miner, of Charlemont.

The weather continued pleasant on the third day, and the attend-
ance was larger than at an}- time since the fair was opened, the crowd
nearby filling the park to witness the morning sports. It opened with
music from a full band, and an exhibition of lads' horsemanship, for
which there were ten entries ; and this feature of the show proved
very attractive. Most of the lads, whose ages ranged from six to
sixteen years of age, were on horseback, and handled the ribbons
admirably. There were but two entries to the exhibition of ladies'
horsemanship, and the first premium was taken by Mrs. O. Morgan,
of Shelburne. The crowd, which nearly filled the park to witness
the morning sports, was largely augmented in the afternoon, and the
balloon ascension was probably witnessed by from 12,000 to 15,000
people. The inflation of the balloon, which was placed in close
proximity to the village gas-house, was begun at an early hour. At
four o'clock, one hour after the ascension, it could still be seen about
as large as a man's head, and dimty fading from the sight.

Another of the important and interesting features of the fair, was
the farmers' festival, given at Franklin Hall on the afternoon of the
second day. This was largely attended by the membei's and invited
guests. A blessing was invoked by the Rev. J. F. Moors ; and when
it came to the feast of reason, Imla K. Rrown, of Bernardston, the
president of the society, spoke of its growth and flattering prospects.

APPENDIX. xxvii

He said, in the infancy of the society, ex-Governor Bullock pre-
dicted its success, and that these predictions were fully verified was
evident to all. Interesting addresses were made by Senator Wash-
burn, Mr. DeWolf, for many years secretary, S. O. Lamb, James S.
Grinnell, of the patent-office at Washington, Prof. Stockbridge, and
others. In closing the exercises, your delegate could do no less
than to offer the following sentiment : " Franklin County — Not
excelled in her products by any of the counties in Massachusetts ;
in her manufactures, stock and grain, in her grapes, fruit and
flowers, and in her beautiful ladies, — cannot be outdone."

The society starts on another year with over 2,000 members, and
a goodly balance in the treasmy. The officers of the society are
entitled to great praise for their efficiency ; and to none more than
to Mr. Brown, its efficient president, and the secretar}', Mr. F. M.
Thompson, who has proved an active and worthy officer. To both
of these gentlemen, and Mr. W. L. Warner, the delegate from this
Board is indebted for many kind attentions. With such officers, no
society can fail of success.

S. B. Phinney.

HAMPDEN EAST.

The annual exhibition of the Hampden East Agricultural Society
opened with a bright day, and clear, bracing air ; but the season —
October 13 and 14 — was so far advanced, that, as the day wore
away, the autumnal chill in the air was too sharp to favor out-of-
door enjoyment.

This association seems to be in a healthy, growing condition,
although not among our stronger societies. The general verdict on
the ground was, that the show of 1874 was an advance upon pre-
ceding exhibitions. The president, Dr. H. P. Wakefield, is a host
in himself, and, with a large representation in stock and other
departments from the State Primar}' School under his charge, did
much towards making the exhibition creditable and instructive.

The full-blooded animals on the ground, we understand, were in
larger proportion than heretofore, and showed a marked improve-
ment. From the State Farm came some fifty head in all, chiefly
Ayrshires and their grades. Among the pure-bred Ayrshire cows
were some excellent specimens of the breed, and the exactly-recorded
yield of milk accompanying each cow, added much to the interest
and value of the exhibit. One of those cows showed the astonishing
record of twelve tons of milk in three years. Mr. Sessions, of South

xxviii REPORTS OF DELEGATES.

Wilbraham, showed a part of his fine herd of Devon stock. Some
Durharas and Jerseys, of fair quality, were also shown, and a con-
siderable number of good oxen and steers, including some remark-
ably docile and intelligent trained-steers. Sheep, swine and poultry
were fairly represented. We saw little of the horse, as we were
unable to remain over the second day, which was given up chiefly to
that animal.

The fruits and vegetables in the hall were quite creditable. Mr.
Sessions displayed a very fine collection of apples ; also, some good
seedling peaches. Fine apples were also shown by others, and a
modest display of pears appeared. Very few grapes.

The ladies, as usual at our fairs, did their share in adorning the
hall with their work. Bread, butter, cheese and cake were not
wanting, and an attractive collection of canned fruits spoke of their
foresight and expertness.

The boys of the State Primary School showed neat specimens of
their printing, in various styles. We had the pleasure of visiting
this institution, and observing with great interest its admirable
interior management, as well as the Doctor's capital farming, which
is, in itself, a first-class discourse on agriculture to the farmers
roundabout.

The new hall of the society is still in an unfinished state, and the
crowded condition of the lower hall} which was doubly filled, — first,
with the exhibition proper, of fruits, vegetables, fanc}T articles, etc.,
and, again, with eager listeners, — suggests that this space should be
utilized.

President Clark, of the Agricultural College, gave the farmers one
of his own suggestive talks, alluding in vigorous and telling lan-
guage to the present evils and the future possibilities of New Eng-
land farming.

We bade good-bye to Palmer, with hearty appreciation of kind
courtesies received, and anticipation of a constantly-brightening
future for agriculture in this vicinity.

Henry S. Goodale.

UNION.

The annual exhibition of the Union Agricultural Society was held
at Blandford, on the 16th and 17th of September.

The first day of the fair was devoted to the exhibition of dairy-
stock, working-oxen, sheep, swine and poultiy. Chief among these
was the parade of working-oxen, about fifty pairs being on the

APPENDIX. xxix

ground, whose general appearance evinced the fact that their owners
had aimed at, and had attained, a high standard of excellence in
selecting, breeding and training this class of domestic animals.
The drawing-match was a prominent feature in the daj-'s doings, and
continued several hours. The object of this performance seemed to
be to ascertain how much of a load it was barely possible for a }Toke
of cattle to move a distance not less than six inches. Some would
move the load without much apparent effort, while others succeeded,
after repeated trials, with the greatest apparent difficult}'. Some of
the spectators even suggested the enforcement of the law for the
prevention of cruelty to animals. This practice of straining cattle
to the extent of their power is decidedly wrong, and should be
speedily abolished. A drawing- match should be instituted not
solely to exhibit the strength of the animals, but to show their
intelligence and training. A load should be selected appropriate to
their size and age ; one which they can handle without extraordinary
efforts.

Whipping, j'elling, violent or threatening gestures, should not be
tolerated, for a well-bred ox will do his whole duty, or all that
should be required of him, without any violent urging, if he is
encouraged by the cheerful voice of his driver.

The society have Fairbanks's scales on their grounds, and every
yoke of cattle is weighed and the weight marked on the yoke, and a
record of the same made by the weigher ; so, at least once a year,
every farmer may know the weight of his cattle.

In sheep, swine and poultry this society takes but little interest,
if we are allowed to judge b}' the meagre display on exhibition. "With
the exception of one Southdown buck, there was nothing in this line
worthy of notice.

The display in the hall was very fine, and embraced the usual
variety of products always found at agricultural exhibitions.
Almost every article had been produced or selected with great care,
and excellent taste displaj*ed in its arrangement. The society is
young, this being its ninth annual exhibition, and, judging from
appearances, it is doing a good work in the development of the
agricultural resources of these mountain-towns.

Financially they are in a healthy condition, their assets exceeding
five thousand dollars, and their indebtedness fifteen hundred.

The address was delivered by Richard Goodman, Esq., of Lenox,
a former member of this Board. It was full of practical suggestions,
and was listened to with marked attention.

A. P. Slade.

xxx REPORTS OF DELEGATES.

DEERFIELD VALLEY.

The undersigned, appointed a delegate from this Board to attend
the fair of the Deerfleld Valley Agricultural Society, holden at
Charlemont, on the 29th and 30th of September, 1874, has attended
to that duty, and submits the following report.

As soon as I arrived on the ground, I was convinced that the
people. of Western Franklin appreciated a cattle-show, and were
determined, "rain or shine," to have a good time now, whether they
ever reached the "good time coming" or not.

This fourth exhibition of the farmers of this society was a success,
although the entry of stock was not as large as on some former occa-
sions. This society, only a four-year-old, is young and enterprising,
and yet it is not so vigorous that it cannot be affected by the elements.

The number of entries of neat-stock was 100 ; horses, 76 ; sheep,
40 ; for the hall, 493. Total entries, 817.

The first prize of town teams was awarded to Buckland, for 20
yoke of oxen. The five largest pairs averaged 3,639 pounds. It
was a strong team.

Herds were entered by L. S. Brown, of Shelburne ; E. C. Hawks,
of Charlemont ; G. W. Truesdell, of Shelburne, and G. P. and W. W.
Carpenter, of Shelburne ; and prizes were awarded in the order
mentioned.

The thoroughbred bulls on exhibition (mostly Durhams) did credit
to that renowned breed, and showed that their breeders had an eye
to their ability to line their sides with adipose tissue and the wallets
of their owners with greenbacks.

The dairy cows on exhibition gave evidence of good breeding,
while the butter and cheese was proof positive that the dairymaids
were descended from no inferior race.

Flocks of sheep of the fine-wool, the middle-wool and the long-
wool varieties, came flocking in from the mountains and hillsides of
Deerfleld, interesting to the beholders, profitable to the possessors
and creditable to the exhibitors.

And while we note the bovines, we would not fail to notice the
porcines. Here were assembled the renowned Chester whites and
the celebrated Suffolk males, to which premiums were awarded ;
while the committee did not forget the maternal race, with progeny
too numerous to mention, in making up their awards.

The contributors to the exhibition of fowls did themselves credit,
while the various breeds vied with each other for premiums, and
each chanticleer stood ready to crow for either part}* victorious at
the approaching election.

APPENDIX. xxxi

The exhibition in the hall was a source of attraction. Here were
the fruits of the garden, the orchard and the field, in profusion ; here
were exhibited the relics of bygone days : a Bible almost 200 years
old ; a pewter teapot, in which the grandmothers, perhaps, had a
tempest, while imbibing their favorite beverage, more than 200 years
ago ; while here was shown a teaspoon 100 3Tears old, and yet in
size onl}T a baby-spoon ; the handiwork of the ladies, in the shape of
wreaths, sketches, yarns, stockings, pictures, carpets, flannels and
frockings, the pride of husbands and envy of lovers.

At the close of the first day came torrents of rain, accompanied
with thunder and lightning, until the morning sun chased away the
fleeting clouds, and made an effort to dry the mud of the previous
night.

In spite of the unfavorable circumstances, came the horses,
— draught-horses, matched-horses, single horses, carriage-horses,
walking-horses, trotting-horses, running-horses, stallions, mares,
geldings and colts. Great as was the interest manifested by this
society in neat-stock, it did not forget this noble animal, and
showed a commendable spirit in fostering both these departments of
husbandry.

The finances of the societ}1, stands thus, —

The society owed, Jan. 1, 1874, $3,774 24

During the year there has been paid, .... 486 37

Leaving the society in debt, $3,287 87

The societ}r has ample grounds, and a good track for the exercise
of horses ; a hall for the exhibition of the products of the farm, the
dairy, and the handiwork of the wives and daughters, and is in a
health}' condition, because its debt is in process of liquidation.

1 had anticipated much pleasure from meeting my old friend, Col.
Leavitt, but found he was necessariby absent on similar duty at the
meeting of the Essex society.

However, during may stay in Charlemont, I found a welcome
home beside the cheerful, blazing fireside of Mr. E. C. Hawks, who,
with his presence, his counsel, his stock, his orchard-fruits and his
farm-prOducts, graced the show, and added interest to the occasion,
and who has now been honored with a seat at the State Board of
Agriculture of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Horace P. Wakefield.

xxxii REPORTS OF DELEGATES.

BERKSHIRE.

The sixty-fifth annual exhibition of the Berkshire Agricultural
Society was held on the societ}T's beautiful and elevated grounds, on
the 6th, 7th and 8th of October.

Organized in 1811, it has the credit of being the oldest agricul-
tural society in the United States that held exhibitions. It is truly
a live society, and manifests in all its departments that it has
profited by the ripe experience of maivy 3-ears.

Having the privilege of attending only the first day of the fair,
we report from personal observation of the superior exhibition in
the hall, and of all the stock, except the horses. The large number
of cattle and sheep on exhibition was a splendid sight to behold.
Most of the thoroughbreds were represented.

In the hall, the dairy products were superior ; seeds and roots
very fine ; fruits extensive, though apples ordinary in quality, owing
to the light crop in this county.

A glance at the list of entries will show, b}T the great number in
each department, the general interest manifested by all classes to make
the fair a success. There were 21 entries of farms, and 24 of orchards
and fruit-trees. Of farm crops there were 343 entries, divided as
follows : wheat, 9 ; rye, 42 ; oats, 71 ; corn, 57 ; barley, 11 ; buck-
wheat, 18 ; sweet-corn, 10 ; sowed corn, 13 ; grass, 18 ; carrots, 7 ;
beets, 9; turnips, 11; ruta-baga, 19; onions, 2; cabbages, 17;
gardens, 12 ; flower-gardens, 6 ; compost-heaps, 5. All these entries
were for the best crops that grew on land varying from one-quarter
of an acre to four acres in extent. In the hall there were 38 entries
of butter ; cheese, 13 ; bread and biscuit, 108 ; vegetables, 75
seeds, 71 ; fruits, 134 ; floral, 40 ; household manufactures, 469
manufacturers' department, 16; paintings and works of art, 80
agricultural and mechanical implements, 42. Total entries in the
hall, 1,086.

Of thoroughbred neat-stock there were 38 entries, including 12
bulls and 26 cows and heifers. Of grade-stock there were 98 entries,
including 8 entries of herds of cattle, and 6 of herds of milch-
cows for the dairy. There were 70 entries of sheep, 13 of swine,
and 40 of poultry; horses, 91 — ploughing, 11. There were 402
sheep on exhibition, 251 cattle, and 86 swine.

The new and novel premium offered for the best band of music,
drew out four entries, who made most excellent music during the
fair, and were awarded premiums to the amount of $225.

In looking at the treasurer's report, we conclude that their finances
are in a healtlvy condition. With over $700 in the treasury, the

APPENDIX. xxxiii

receipts for the past year have been $4,718.17, and expenses
$4,077.26, leaving a balance of $640.91 in the treasury.

The number of premiums given was 834, amounting in all to
$2,982, of which $395 were in cash ; the balance, over $2,300, in
silver plate.

"We have only to say, in conclusion, that the society is abundantly
able to extend its influence for usefulness throughout the limits of
the count}'. Having means to work with, and no interest to pay,
with plenty of noble men and cultivated women, thoroughly inter-
ested, to plan and execute in a most efficient manner, it need not
retrograde, but advance year by year in the future, as in the past,
and " yet more abundantly."

H. M. Sessions.

HOUSATONIC.

The annual exhibition of the Housatonic Agricultural Society
was held at Great Barrington on September 30 and October 1
and 2.

Failing to connect at Pittsfield with the Housatonic Railroad, I
did not arrive there until late the first day. Nearly all the stock
had left the grounds, but I was told it was the finest exhibition of
cattle ever held by the society, and I should judge so from those
that I saw. Perhaps it would be safe to say that no society is doing
more to improve the different breeds of cattle than in the limits of
this society ; and there is no better soil in this State for farmers to
develop themselves than in southern Berkshire.

The number of entries of cattle was over 200. The show of
horses the second day was very good ; 102 entries. There has been
a decided improvement in horses within the last ten years in this
,societ}', but not as great as in their cattle.

Of summer crops there were 213 entries ; fall crops 208 ; with
more than 100 premiums. From what I could learn, I think the
offering of premiums for summer and fall crops has done more to
stimulate the farmers of Berkshire County than in an}r other county
in the State. I think it would be well for other societies to give
more attention to this branch of their fairs.

The display in the hall was very good. There were, in all, over
1,300 entries. The floral department was especially fine. There
were 48 entries of butter and 60 of bread, all of which did great
credit to the farmers' wives of Berkshire.

They have a live set of officers in this society ; and what is still
5*

xxxiv REPORTS OF DELEGATES.

better, I was told that the members generally were willing to take
hold and make their fairs a success. I came away feeling that this
is truly a prosperous societ}'. I was received with great kindness
by President Bullard, ex-President Curtis ; also Col. Rowley.

Elnathan Graves.

IIOOSAC VALLEY.

It was a fine autumnal day, and the sturdy farmers, with their
sons, were out with their working-oxen, their cows and heifers of the
different breeds of thoroughbred animals, their sheep and swine ;
also a number of coops containing fancy poultry.

This society owns the land, and buildings thereon, upon which it
holds its annual fairs, and a plot of ground better adapted to tbeir
wants could hardly be found in the Hoosac Valley. Their hall is
large, thoroughly built, and the room well utilized.

The exhibition of vegetables was large, consisting of squashes,
pumpkins, cabbages, cauliflowers, beets, turnips, onions and pota-
toes, most of them being well-shaped, smooth specimens of their
several varieties, yet the number of monstrosities was sufficient to
relieve the e}'e from that sameness which sometimes attaches itself
to this department of the fair.

The show of apples and peaches was not large, but very good ; of
pears there was a large show, among which were to be found many
choice specimens of rare varieties. There was a large collection of
various kinds of fruit in cans ; a fine collection of plants in pots ;
cut-fiowers, arranged in different styles, which were an ornament to
the hall, a credit to the exhibitors, and furnished visitors a pleasant
field for study.

There was an abundance of quilts, spreads and various articles of
domestic manufacture ; also fancy needle and worsted work. Many .
of these articles were of the more useful class, and by the lady
visitors present were pronounced " finely done."

The exhibition of this class of articles is an index to the interest
taken in industrial exhibitions by farmers' wives and daughters, and
much credit was due to the ladies for making the fair attractive,
not only by the products of their industry, but by their cheering
presence.

Excellent and very fine prints and ginghams were exhibited by
the gentlemanly manufacturers, whose goods have long since gained
a world-wide reputation. In a word, every branch of productive
industry appeared to be represented at the fair.

APPENDIX. xxxv

The farm and carriage horses upon the park, with the grand turn-
out and splendid equipages upon the track, competing for premiums,
made an exhibition in this department seldom equalled at a county
fair.

Finally, we left North Adams fully satisfied that, through the
influence of the Hoosac Valley Society, labor in that section of the
State is more productive, the laborer better fed, clothed and edu-
cated, farms better cultivated and more fruitful, farm-buildings more
convenient and in better repair, domestic animals sheltered and bred
with greater care, and the State wealthier to-day for the liberal
bount}- it has bestowed upon that society.

L. P. Warner.

NORFOLK

Your delegate appointed to visit the Norfolk society, attended to
his duties, and was much pleased with the exhibition, judging that it
compared favorably with those of previous years.

Where all did well, it is not desirable to make particular mention
of individual exhibitors, and were it required, in this instance, it
would not be possible, as all departments were well represented,
and the exhibit very gratifying ; and your delegate, probabty being
influenced in some measure by the propitious weather, feeling in a
very amiable mood, could not see anything to find fault with.

There is so much of sameness in all our exhibitions, that it is
impossible to specify particular objects of interest; and your del-
egate, feeling it to be his peculiar province to see if, in his judg-
ment, the bounty of the State was well applied, could see no reason
wlvy all requirements were not attended to ; and judged the society
to be in a prosperous condition. m

John A. Hawes.

BRISTOL.

The annual exhibition of the Bristol County Societ}' was held at
Taunton the 29th and 30th of September, and 1st of October.

The exhibition was large, well-arranged, and successful. The
arrangement of the grounds and buildings reflected great credit on
the officers of the society, and the large collections in the hall and
pens indicated a wide-spread and lively interest on the part of the
farmers of the county in the industry which they represent, and in

xxxvi EEPORTS OF DELEGATES.

the plan adopted for its encouragement. Among the cattle were
many specimens of Ayrshires, Jerseys and Devons, which showed
skill and care in breeding, and an increased desire to stock the
farms of the county with good animals. The Ayrshire herd of Plon.
F. L. Ames, of Easton, was especially worthy of the commendation
bestowed upon it by the committee, and it would be difficult to
enumerate the single animals of various breeds which were to be
found on the ground. The committee say in their report : " Your
committee find a larger number of entries than in any former year,
there being entered for premiums, 5 herds of cows ; 28 single cows ;
30 milch heifers ; 41 one and two 3'ear old heifers, and 30 calves.
Among those worthy of notice was a herd of Ayrshire cows, by Hon.
F. L. Ames, of Easton, and one by W. H. Wilcox, of Attleborough ;
also, Ayrshires by Soranus Hall, of Ra}mham ; B. 0. Ames, of
Attleborough, and L. L. Short, of Taunton ; a herd of fine Devon
cows, and a large herd of other stock, by B. D. Snow, of Raynham ;
a good stock of Jerse}- cows and heifers, by Theodore Carver, H. S.
Freeman, and S. Lincoln, of Norton; also, by AVilliam Reed, of
Raj-nham, W. S. Briggs and Jara King, of Taunton, and some
others. Good stock was exhibited bjr C. S. Sweet, of Norton ; H. B.
Snow, of Raynham ; Charles Albro, of Taunton ; C. W. Turner,
of Dighton, and J. F. Leach, of Bridgewater, with numerous other
single cows and heifers."

The collection of horses was also very fine, the driving-horses
being very superior and coming up to the standard laid down by the
committee, who say : " Give us a strong, powerful, cheerful road-
ster, who takes the road for real enjoyment ; who is not looking
about him for objects at which to shy, and who cares no more than
we do ourselves for the noise of the railroad-train ; who can go out
ten miles and return, and be ready for a twentj'-mile trip and return
the next day." The brood-mares, colts and stallions were ex-
cellent. • .

The hall contained an excellent display of fruits and vegetables,
and that highby interesting collection of manufactured articles for
which this society has become distinguished, and which constitutes
so much of the wealth of the city of Taunton and the surrounding
towns. A better idea of the extent and variety of the collection
cannot be formed than is found in the following statement : —

"The pianos and organs, by S. U. Tinkham & Sons, appeared to
be of special merit. The upright and the Decker pianos were of very
fine finish!, possessing great sweetness of tone, while Woods' parlor-
organ was noticed for its remarkable compass. Near by were some
very fine pianos and parlor-organs, exhibited by E. P. Rounds &
Son, that attracted a crowd of admiring listeners. The case of fine

APPENDIX. xxxvii

watches, jewelry and solid silverware, by E. D. Tisdale & Son, were
suitable for service or ornament. The selection of furniture, by
Edward E. Washburn, was very good. The library-chr r, with
extension-foot, was specially noticeable. Two Ordway c.iairs, by
J. F. Montgomery, seemed perfectly adapted for ease and comfort.
Of the large number of sewing-machines, all are highly recommended,
and each has its peculiar merits and advocates. Our attention was
specially called to the Wilcox & Gibbs machine, for its many
excellent points. The Universal Spring Motor, by E. B. Chase, of
New Bedford, appeared to be a great improvement over the foot-
treadle as an attachment for all machines required for constant use.
Thomas Wj-att, of Providence, exhibited some very fine specimens
of cable-chains. Cortrell & Cushing exhibited a choice lot of toys
from their manufactory in South Hingham, and J. O. Draper & Co.,
of Pawtucket, displayed a great variety of soap, in bars, cakes, lions
and fragrant cut-roses. Among the manufactures of our own county
were some very fine carriages, by Peck & White. The phaetons
and sleighs, with their appointments of robes and harnesses, should
remind our citizens that our home manufactures are entitled to the
first consideration and patronage. In this connection should be
mentioned the very ingenious combination-lathes, on which a great
variety of work may be done, — turning, jig and mitre sawing, — ex-
hibited by F. S. Babbitt and the Strange Cylinder Saw and Machine
Compaivy. Also, some of the best knives to be found in the market
(another of the home manufactures) were exhibited by the Star
Knife Company. A ease of files, by Joseph Webster, equalled, if
not surpassed, an}- imported article. Then there was the usual fine
display of electro-plated silverware, by Reed & Barton, which is
not excelled in beaut}- of design or finish by any manufactured in
the country. The table of machinery, by the Mason Machine Com-
pany, and a lot of finished brass locomotive work, by the Taunton
Locomotive Manufacturing Company, showed superior workmanship.
All of the above, and many other cases, might be cited to show the
ability and genius of our home industries, and demonstrates the fact
that our home productions may be made sufficient for all the require-
ments of life. To close the scene, W. H. Jackson and D. A. Burt
are ever ready with their artistic designs of monuments and statuarj^
all finished in the most perfect manner, to mark our end and profit
by our demise."

Your delegate was particularly impressed with the attention of the
committees to their duty. The examinations were diligently, fairly
and patiently conducted, and the reports are carefully elaborated.
The example thus set is worthy of all imitation ; and bearing in
mind the fact, that all the reliable information upon which the agri-

xxxviii REPORTS OF DELEGATES.

cultural community can base their general deductions, is to be
obtained from the points laid down in the reports of committees and
elicited by them from the exhibitors themselves in various ways,
it is evident that the records, reports and papers of the various
societies become of the highest value.

The public exercises of the society, the exhibition of horses, the
dinner, and the outside amusements, were properly and judiciously
conducted.

Geo. B. Loring.

BRISTOL CENTRAL.

The fifteenth annual fair of the Bristol Central Agricultural Society
was held on their grounds, September 1G, 17 and 18.

The second day was the more important one. The earl}- morning
threatened rain, but proved more favorable than was feared. Though
doubtless many were deterred, from weather appearances, yet there
was a good attendance.

This society's history for the year has been one of decided suc-
cess. There has been expended in new buildings and other improve-
ments, about $10,000. To previous accommodations for cattle, there
has been added, the last season, a double row of pens, with roof
ample to protect them, making it one of the best arrangements for
its purpose.

A large building, 150 feet long, has also been erected for a grand
stand, with dining-hall under it ; the whole building is so provided
with roof and folding-doors as to be full}- inclosed and protected
when not in use ; a judges' stand is also new. It would seem that
the society need not incur more expense for buildings for many
years. They are substantial and well adapted to their various
purposes.

The show of stock was a very fine one, and filled all the pens, and
many animals were tied outside the pens. The display of neat-
stock was said to be the best ever made by the society. Of full-
bloods, Ayrshires were the most numerous ; then Jerseys, Durhams
and Devons, man}- grade animals, some fine, fat oxen, steers and
cows ; one yoke of oxen weighed, 5,000 pounds.

The exhibition of horses was larger than usual at this fair. There
were 24 colts of ages up to three years ; swine were represented by
15 entries ; sheep by 14 entries ; there were 101 coops of fowls.

The display in and about the lower hall, of dairy products, fruits,
flowers, A-egetables and manufactured and fancy articles was very
good, showing skill, industry and success.

APPENDIX. xxxix

At one o'clock, p. m., the usual annual dinner was announced in
the upper hall, President John A. Hawes, of Fairhaven, presiding.
After the dinner, speaking was in order. Dr. Durfee, of Fall River,
the parent of the societ}*, expressed his satisfaction at its present
flourishing state, and, comparing the past with the present, he was
proud of the success of the societ}r. Dr. Thomas N. Stone, of Well-
fleet, read a poem entitled " The Preadamite Cabbage," quite humor-
ous, and a good take-off upon some of the isms of the dajr. Dr.
Geo. B. Loring was next introduced, and gave to the large audience
one of his (alwa3rs good) agricultural addresses. The close attention
indicated much interest.

Bristol County, to which this society is an honor, is the ninth of
the fourteen counties of the State in relative size. The ninth census
report shows it to stand eighth in amount of agricultural products ;
fifth in amount of manufactured products in cash values ; sixth in
amount of assessed valuation ; third in number of farms of more
than 20 and less than 50 acres ; and first in amount of steam-
power.

Some writer has said, where there are many artisans there is a
good market, and farmers thrive. The diversified industries of this
section of the State are acting mutually to benefit all classes, and are
undoubtedly developing an increased interest and prosperity in agri-
culture. The life and earnestness manifest at this annual fair of the
societ}' led me to inquire for the active cause ; and I submit, that in
this action of their mutual interests is a most hopeful prospect for
the farmer in the future.

Dr. Loring told us last year that while Worcester County, in 23
of her towns, was decreasing in population, in Bristol Count}' the
same was true of only four of her towns. It is safe to predict that
more of the waste and sprout lands of this county will be improved
for farming purposes in the near future. The times upon which we
have fallen have led to more inquiry for the farm. We want not
less shops or factories, but more and better farming ; and these we
shall have throughout the State.

The New England farmer has proved that an independent man, a
democratic citizen, on a poor soil and in many respects an unfavor-
able position, can overcome all obstacles. His lifelong struggle
with difficulties renders him incredibly expert and capable of seizing
all expedients whereby he can better his condition.

There are many considerations at the present time calculated to
lead young men, even with enthusiasm, to enter agricultural pur-
suits.

C. Sanderson.

xl REPORTS OF DELEGATES.

, PLYMOUTH.

Looking in upon the spacious grounds, so full}' described by my
predecessors, seeing the animals upon them, and the thousands of
people in attendance, I came to the conclusion that were there stere-
otype forms for making reports to this Board, I should run the risk
of breaking over all such barriers in my account of this exhibition.
Arriving at the hall and reporting myself to the secretary, I was
by him introduced to Mr. James C. Leach, of Bridgewater, who very
courteously took me first to see the contents of the lower hall, and
then to survey the outer field of operations. Inside, the show of vege-
tables, grains, fruits and flowers was a great credit to the farmers
and gardeners. Some samples of the first named were very large.
One squash weighed 84 pounds. Apples, pears and grapes were
in abundance and very fine. Marcus Maxim, of North Rochester,
had 50 varieties of grapes, but one variety of which was grown
under cover. Cut-flowers were in rich profusion and tastefully
arranged. Of bread, the committee had under inspection 105 sam-
ples ; of butter and cheese there were about 40 specimens, and all
looked very desirable. The preserves, pickles, and, by the aid of the
"busy bees*" the honey, also gave evidence of the diligence and skill
of the ladies. But, as usual, the greatest display of the fair sex
was in what is styled fancy-work, or domestic manufactures. There
were on exhibition, also, quite a number of specimens of mechanical
skill, the work of the sterner sex.

After a brief examination here, which was repeated afterwards,
my conductor took me out to the ploughing-match, which occurred
thus early in the programme. Seventeen teams were engaged, ten
of oxen and seven of horses. The trial was an animated one, and was
witnessed by a large gathering of people. The land was in some
parts slightly undulating, but generally quite level. The work was
done well. The report of the ploughing here in 1848 criticises it as
being done in too much haste. No such complaint could lie against
this. The speed was good, however. The ploughs were of a variety
of patterns. Albert Pierce, one of the men who held, had ploughed
on similar occasions twenty-five consecutive years.

A further detour brought us to the flocks and herds, in the accus-
tomed positions. The Ayrshires, Jerseys, Shorthorns, and a few
other breeds, with the crosses and grades, were in commendable
numbers, and were fine-looking. There were several herds of cattle ;
one of 25 milch-cows from the State Workhouse farm ; of fat cattle,
there was one pair of oxen weighing 4,170, another pair weighing
4,000, and another 3,600 pounds ; there was also a fat cow weighing

APPENDIX. xli

1,745 pounds. Of sheep, the Cotswolds and Southdowns were not
to be excelled. Of swine, there were superior specimens of the
Berkshire, Suffolk and Essex breeds. One handsome litter of the
young brought the exhibitor a premium of $8. Of the feathered
tribes there was a fine show. Some specimens of the poultry were
of the more profitable kinds, while others would seem to indicate
the varied tastes of their owners. There were the candidates for
Thanksgiving dinners, including turkeys, ducks and geese, and also
a large variety of fancy pigeons. The stalls for the animals gener-
ally,, and the spacious stables for the horses, rendering it convenient
to retain them over night, showed the good attention given to all
these wants. In one section of the area the capacities of the work-
ing oxen were tested. On the track walking oxen were plied to the
utmost of their speed in that gait, one pair — trotting a little, how-
ever— performing the half mile circuit in 6.25 ; here also followed
trials of horses of various classes.

On the second and great day of the show the extensive grounds
were all life and animation. Neither quadrupeds nor bipeds were at
all bashful in apprising us that it was their gala-day as well as ours.
It was sunny and balmy, and they seemed bound to put on their
gayest colors and most imposing airs, and neigh, low or crow, as
became the species.

The people of all ages and classes were there — stalwart men,
matronly women, hale j'oung gentlemen, and the young of the fair
sex — beautiful in facial lineament and elegant in attire ; and last,
but not least, the children in throngs, the embryo farmers and their
prospective wives, — all were there. Estimates of the numbers
present on that day varied from 8,000 to 15,000 ; so that, as some
one remarked, the grandest show of all was that of people.

The programme, for the time on the course, was duly observed.
The most interesting hour of all was that in which the various
classes of neat-cattle and horses entitled to premiums, to the num-
ber of about 100, were conducted along on the track near the grand
stand, where, halting in turn, the awards of the various committees
were announced by the president, in course, and a tag of ribbon, the
color of which was to indicate the degree of premium awarded, was
thereupon attached to the horn of the meriting neat-animal, or to
some article of tackling on the horse, as the case required. To some
of the most successful of the latter rosettes were attached, instead of
simple ribbons.

A procession, as is the custom here, with music, brought us to the
upper hall at the hour for dinner, where tables were richly and plen-
tifully spread for some five or six hundred persons, the seats at
which were soon occupied. Following the discussion of edibles and
6*

xlii REPORTS OF DELEGATES.

music by the band, the president, Hon. Charles G. Davis, having,
the day preceding, after a service of eighteen consecutive years,
declined a reelection, addressed those present in appropriate terms.
At his right at the table sat the Hon. Benjamin Ilobart, a venerable
ex-president of the society, then in his ninet}'-third year, and Hon.
Artemas Hale, formerly many 3'ears treasurer of the societ}T, and a
well known ex-member of Congress. There having been no distin-
guished lecturer secured, — the late Hon. Alfred Macy, of the gov-
ernor's council, who had been expected, failing to arrive, — the presi-
dent pronounced the meeting a family gathering. It was further
addressed by Hon. B. W. Harris, M. C, from the second district,
who was the newly-elected president, and briefly by some others.

It was not convenient for me, as your delegate, to remain over
the third chay, nor did it seem needful for me to do so. I have only to
say that, from reliable sources of information, I am enabled to state
that the assignments for that day were, as had been those for the
preceding days, successful.

This is one of the old, wealttry and vigorous county agricultural
societies. It possesses in itself the power to succeed, and it effect-
ually uses that power. Its property 's worth about $50,000. By
repeated additions to its lands since its first purchase here, it now
holds an area of more than fifty acres. Its yearly receipts from its
fairs alone are from $2,000 to $4,000. Its entire receipts for the
last year had been $9,452.83, and its payments, including $2,G87 in
premiums, were $9,408.70. Among the expenditures of last year
was an item of $1,100 for the erection of new permanent horse-stalls.
At its annual meeting, held during this fair, it authorized its board
of trustees, by vote, to expend a sum not exceeding $10,000, in
enlarging, strengthening and ornamenting its hall. It is emphati-
cally a society of farmers, devoted to whatever in the department
of agriculture is practically useful. But I learn that it does not
encourage the use of the race-course to that extent and in all the
modes desired by some.

A neighboring editor said that "one thing is alwa}-s evident at
the opening of the Bridgewater fairs, and that is the perfection of
the arrangements in all departments." The facts, certainly, at this
fair, full}' justified the remark. The superintendents had well earned
the reputation accorded to them. The faithful execution of the
work by the devoted president, the untiring secretaiy, the awarding
committees, and others, was a marked feature. Under the chief-
marshalship of Ahira S. Porter, of Brockton, aided by a good force
of assistants, excellent order was maintained.

The weather throughout the three days was really autumnal and
delightful. The music was furnished on the successive daj^s by

APPENDIX. xliii

the Plymouth, Brockton and Abington bands. The fair, as a
whole, is regarded as one of this society's best.

In closing, I must return thanks, for attentions received, to the
president and his estimable family ; to the secretarj', Mr. Keith ; to
my very obliging guide, Mr. James C. Leach, and other members
of the society. May the ever-vigilant ex-president long live to
cooperate, as he desired to do, with his colaborers and the society,
with its new and talented head, press on to yet greater strength and

to a still higher eminence.

H. Vincent.

MARSHFIELD.

The pleasant duty of attending the eighth annual fair, held in
Marshfield, October 7, 8 and 9, fell to me, and I submit a brief
report.

It will not be necessary to describe the place or its people. It
appeared to be a small, quiet town, hardly large enough to hold a
first-class agricultural fair. I had been upon the grounds but a
short time, however, when 1113' doubts and fears were all removed ; for,
where we find such perfect harmony among all the officers and mem-
bers, and such kind, cordial cooperation of the ladies, with such a
live band of music, who played as though some part of the success
depended upon them, I could see at once that all were alive, and
that at the Marshfield fair there would be no such thing as a
failure.

The grounds and buildings are situated near the centre of the
village ; are both pleasant and well adapted for the use of the
society. The members must, however, see the need of sheds and
covering for the stock, and I presume as soon as their finances will
admit, they will be forthcoming, and placed upon the ground, both
for their own as well as for the benefit and comfort of their stock.

The exhibition of neat-stock was not large, — hardly equal to my
expectations. Perhaps coming, as I did, from a society that makes
this department a specialty, I was expecting too much. There
were some good fat oxen, and 18 entries of working-oxen. The
competition in this class was sharp and interesting, showing that
both drivers and teams understood their business. Conspicuous
among this number were two fine yoke, owned b}- David Whiton,
of Hingham, 5 and G years old, weighing 4,500 and 4,200 pounds.
The Jerseys appeared to take the lead, both in number and quality.
There were other full-bloods, and fine-looking animals, showing that

xliv EEPORTS OF DELEGATES.

the people are awake and see the importance of growing the best of
stock.

The show of sheep and swine was small, — too small for an exhi-
bition of this kind ; and I hope there will be a marked improvement
in this department at their next annnal fair.

The exhibition of horses was very fair. There was no track for try-
ing the speed of fast horses, consequently there were but few of that
description present. Yet there was a good exhibition of farm-horses,
as well as good family driving-horses, and showed a good degree of
interest in this department, without the graded track.

The poultry department was full and complete, and appeared to
be unusually good. The number was large and the quality excel-
lent. Indeed, all the birds on exhibition were of the useful kind.
The ploughing-match was a success, and commanded much atten-
tion,— was really one of the most interesting features of the fair.
There were in this department 9 entries ; and I can imagine that
some of the men did not feel particularly amiable upon seeing their
allotted fields, for some pieces were filled with stumps and roots ;
}Tet all took their places, and right nobly performed their work.

The exhibition in Agricultural Hall was good, and appeared to be
their crowning success ; and too much praise cannot well be bestowed
upon the ladies who did so much and contributed so generously.
It would be almost impossible to enumerate the different articles of
merit, and I shall not be so unwise as to attempt it. I would, how-
ever, have been glad to have seen more of the good, old-fashioned
domestic articles ; still, there was quite a displa}' of carpeting, with
a few pairs of socks and mittens.

The youths' department was good, and quite attractive. Bread,
canned fruit, etc., were worthy of all the premiums they received.
I have seen a larger, but never a better display. It being a success-
ful year for fruit, the friends of the Marshfield society were not
behind their neighbors in making a good and successful display of
the different kinds of fruit. Most of it was fair and of good size,
though there were a few specimens (as there are at most fairs) of
small, native fruit placed upon the tables for the purpose of making
a greater number of varieties, but should, in nry opinion, be kept at
home, and none should be exhibited except perfect, or nearly per-
fect, and well-ripened fruit.

The floral display was grand, and, in some respects, the best I
have ever seen. The society is, indeed, fortunate in having among
its members one that can grow and produce such a fine display as
the one made by Mr. Alfred Phillips, of Marshfield ; and to him alone
is due much credit for the success and fine display of this depart-
ment. The basement was well filled with an extensive variety of

APPENDIX. xlv

well-ripened vegetables and seeds ; also good specimens of grass-
seed, some of which was ripened upon the marsh-lands which have
been drained by the diking-system.

There was a very fair display of mechanic arts, with the modern
improvements. One of the greatest improvements was exhibited on
the outside of the ground, where they drew both whiskey and cider
from the same barrel through the same faucet. Only a few par-
ticular ones, however, were permitted to witness all its fine oper-
ations.

The town-team was one of the principal items of the second day,
and was led by the band, followed by 96 pairs of oxen, and wit-
nessed by some eight thousand people.

Then came the dinner of the societ}', which is quite an interesting
feature, and an agreeable affair. The caterer, Mr. G. D. Damon, is
one who full}' understands his business. The table was set with 530
plates, and all taken. The speaking, by President Baker, Charles
G. Davis, of Plymouth, and others, was, as it should be, short and
interesting.

Thanks of the delegate, which are due the president, officers and
members of the societ}^ for their kind attention while among them,
are given with kind, heartfelt gratitude ; and for a genuine, free, open-
hearted, cordial festival, commend me to the cattle-show and fair of
Marshfield, whose society is entitled to the full bounty offered by
the State.

W. L. Warner.

H INGHAM.

The sixteenth annual exhibition of the Hingham Agricultural and
Horticultural Society was held at the appointed time and place, and,
like its predecessors, was conducted in such a manner as to please
and benefit the crowd of members and visitors from abroad that
was in attendance. The weather was simply perfect, the autumnal
breezes being duly tempered by the warm air from the ocean. The
management of the fair was evidently in the hands of business men,
who knew what they wanted to do, and did it. All the arrange-
ments for the several departments of the exhibition were well
planned, and equally well executed. There was no disorder, no
delay, and no annoyance either of exhibitors or spectators. The
grounds are ample and beautiful, and the hall unsurpassed, for con-
venience and finish, by any in the Commonwealth.

The number of horses entered for premium was 35 ; of neat cattle,
187 ; of swine, 132 ; of sheep, 189 ; and of poultry, 324.

xlvi REPORTS OE DELEGATES.

The largest contributors were the president, Hon. Albert Fearing,
whose Jerseys were well worthy the first premiums which were
awarded them in almost every class ; David Whiton, Esq., whose
grade Shorthorn steers and oxen would have been winners at any
fair in the State : and John R. Brewer, P^sq., whose fine flocks of
sheep and lambs bore off the first premiums from their numerous
competitors. The exhibition of swine was remarkable for the
number, excellence and neatness of the animals, especially those of
the best pen, belonging to Mr. Alfred Loring.

The number of entries of fruits, flowers, vegetables, useful and
fancy articles, and so forth, was 1,066, and the general character of
the specimens was full}- up to the usual standard of our best county
fairs.

It was gratifying to see the first premiums for pot-plants and dish
of flowers awarded to Mr. F. L. Whitney, a graduate of the Agri-
cultural College.

The collection of garden' vegetables was very fine, and showed
that the soil and climate of the region are well adapted for their
production.

The children's department displayed the handiwork, and agricul-
tural and horticultural products of seventy contributors, of both
sexes, and is an admirable and peculiar feature of the Hingham fair.

The number of the entertainments for the populace was large, and
their character unexceptionable. The principal one was a parade of
the fire companies of Hingham, consisting of three hundred men
who, in their brilliant uniforms, and with their resplendent engines
and the accompaniment of two brass bands, presented an appearance
which was quite effective. The competition for the prizes was
very spirited, and the successful company was heartily applauded
by the multitude of interested spectators.

The ploughing-match, the trial of teams, the grand cavalcade of
horses, the hurdle-race, the wheelbarrow-race, and the game of foot-
ball were all sharply contested, and produced the desired results in
every case.

The dinner, however, is the feature of the Hingham fair. The
honored president apparently has the happj- faculty of ordering down
from Boston as many distinguished guests as he thinks desirable,
and also of ordering up from somewhere a capital dinner, with music
to match. The people know what to expect, and, of course, buy
their tickets and fill the tables to repletion. Five hundred ladies
and gentlemen were seated in the elegant hall, and, be}Tond all ques-
tion, enjoyed themselves for two of three hours. The dinner was
excellent, the music of the Temple Quartet Club, of Boston, deli-
cious, and the speeches interesting and sensible. Among the

APPENDIX. xlvii

speakers were the Hon. Albert Fearing, Hon. E. S. Tobey, Henry
D. Hyde, Esq., and the Rev. P. McElroy.

The Hingham societ}- may be safely taken as a model by the other
societies of the State, and under its present management is a truly
prosperous and useful institution.

W. S. Clark.

BARNSTABLE.

This society held its annual fair, September 15 and 16, much
earlier in the season than it was held the j'ear before.' It was
more fortunate as to weather this }*ear than the previous one, and
consequently the fair was a greater success, financially.

The last day of this cattle-show is regarded as a kind of red-letter
day by nearly all the inhabitants of the county, and the people turn
out en masse for a good time. So far as we could judge, all seemed
to enjoy themselves, and regarded the whole thing as a success.

Your delegate went there for another purpose than merely to have
a good time, and looked on with different ej'es from those who
belonged to the society. We were not there the first dajT, and so
cannot speak of ploughing-matches, trials in drawing, and tilings of
like nature, that ma}^ have taken pjace.

On our arrival at the society's grounds, which are ample and well
arranged for the purpose for which they were designed, our attention
was first drawn to the cattle-pens, where were found but few animals,
though some of them were very good. From the "Bacon farm"
there were several good Jersey cows and heifers ; also a very good
Jerse}' bull, some good Southdown sheep, and a boar and several
pigs from the same contributor.

There were several lots of sheep on exhibition.

There were several heifers shown that looked well. Our associate,
Major Phinney, had on exhibition one two-year-old Jersey of fine
appearance, and a three-year-old Jersey cow, with calf, very good.

Of working-oxen there was a good number. Mr. L. L. Goodspeed
had three very handsome yoke. There were working-oxen from F.
Jenkins, W. Bursley, J. Bassett, Robt. Armstrong and others.
Seven premiums were awarded for fat cattle.

There were quite a number of horses on exhibition, both in the
pens and on the track. Of those in the pens, we noticed two very
fine colts, showing what may be done when care is taken. Of the
horses on the track, your delegate has little to sa}7, not taking much
interest in such performances ; but if ive did not, almost everybody

xlviii REPORTS OF DELEGATES.

else did, and so the conclusion was reached that the people are, after
all, interested in and do enjoy such exhibitions.

There were on exhibition fowls, clucks, turkeys and geese that
would compare favorably with such as are usually shown at county
fairs.

The society's hall is large and well adapted to the requirements of
such a show as is annually made in it.

We were very glad to see a very large display of potatoes, the
most valuable root that is grown. There was also a good show of
squashes, cabbages, roots of all kinds, cranberries, beans, and a
general assortment of farm-produce, such as we usually find gath-
ered at such a place.

In the fruit department there was a fair display of apples and
pears, many of the specimens shown being very creditable. Fine
Hamburg grapes were shown, grown under glass. The fruit, on the
whole, would compare favorably with that shown at many of the
county fairs.

Of flowers there was a good displaj', with some plants in pots,
among which we noticed a very remarkable specimen of Lilium
Auratum, in a tub, which displayed at that time sixty-one blooms,
and was over seven feet in height, from Mrs. Colonel Perkins, of
Cotuit.

There were three samples of butter only, which looked well ; but
we were sorry that there were only three persons in this whole
count}*- willing to take the trouble to exhibit specimens of their
butter.

There were two lots of cheese on exhibition.

There was a good show of bread, canned-fruit and preserves.

In addition to these articles, there was in the ladies' department
a fine displa}', such only as they can make. They fully did their
part to make the show a success ; and if the men would only do
theirs as well, there would be no lack of interest in this societ}'.

There were many very fine mats of home manufacture, coverlids,
crochet-work and needle-work generally, in great variety and
quantity.

Among the miscellaneous contributions, we noticed organs, har-
nesses, brooms and many other things, such as are manufacured in
the county.

The exhibition, on the whole, was regarded as a good one, when
compared with those made in previous years.

Though the soil and location of this county is not favorable to
good farming, still, we have the feeling that more might and ought
to be done even here, and we express the hope that the next few
years will show a change for the better.

APPENDIX. xlix

After an excellent dinner in the upper hall, an able address was
delivered by the Hon. J. B. D. Cogswell, which was followed by
remarks from other gentlemen and from your delegate.

The Claflin Guards, of Newton, had been invited to be present
and do escort duty on the occasion, and they turned out in goodly
numbers, and, with the Newton City Band, did much to enliven the
occasion.

The whole closed with the annual ball, which was held in the
upper hall. Your delegate was not present in the evening, but all
who were agreed that it was a very enjoyable occasion for both
young and old.

We would, in closing, express our thanks for kind attentions
received^ and especially so for those shown us by our associate,
Major Phinney and family, during our visit to old Barnstable.

James F. C. Hyde.

NANTUCKET.

The nineteenth exhibition of the Nantucket Agricultural Society
was held September 30 and October 1. The high wind that pre-
vailed did not prevent the farmers from bringing their contributions
to the fair. The officers were full of energy and enthusiasm, and the
arrangements for the fair seemed to be complete.

Agricultural Park, where the fair is held, is situated about one
mile east of the town, is inclosed by a fence, and contains a half-mile
track for the exhibition and trial of horses, and the grounds afford
ample space for the exhibition of live-stock, ploughing-match,
games, etc., each and all contributing to the interest and pleasure of
the exhibition. The grounds of the society are planted upon their
outskirts with trees, mostly pines, affording not only a pleasant
rural aspect, but shelter from gales of wind which were blowing
both days of the fair.

The island of Nantucket has a large area of sandy and compara-
tively unproductive lands ; all such lands, wherever situated, are con-
stantly suggesting improvements, and how to improve them is a
question where theory and practice and capital are usually at
variance. We would modestly suggest that trees are the most
etately and luxuriant of the vegetable kingdom, and that there are
but few lands whe*re some of the useful trees cannot be grown, when
properly planted, and afterwards receive judicious cultivation for a
few years. Within the past thirty-five years many acres of the
lands on this island have been planted with pitch and other pine
7*

1 REPORTS OF DELEGATES.

trees, that have now attained sufficient size to be useful for fuel, and
we have no doubt that a proper thinning would stimulate a
rapid growth of the trees remaining. These pines are now annually
producing seed, which are being sown by the winds, and are produc-
ing pines upon adjacent lands, but the planting by nature will be
slow ; to cover these sandy lands with forest growth rapidly must be
accomplished by artificial means, and trees that are planted here-
after will receive shelter from winds and make more rapid growth
than have those originally planted, that have had the elements to
contend with.

Now that the great shipping and whaling interests, once so pros-
perous, adding growth and thrift to the town and wealth to its
people, have passed, other interests must take their place. We are
also convinced that the seafaring man, who for many years has fol-
lowed the sea, does not easily take to cultivating the soil. In tak-
ing a superficial surveiy of the island, we noticed that the lands now
lying waste are better adapted for the growth of wood than any
other crop. We could not even doubt that the lands that have
been growing forest-trees have yielded larger returns to the owners,
for the outlay, than have adjoining lands that have been used
for the cultivation of other crops or for pasturage. Jf it has been
practically demonstrated that the growing of forest-trees can be suc-
cessfully and profitably done, why should it not be extended ? Why
should not the man that feels a commendable pride in growing his
own cereals for bread, his own fruit and vegetables, and the crops
that are consumed b}^ the stock kept upon the farm, if he has suit-
able lands, grow his own timber and the wood for fuel ? The days
of wood-fires are not utterly gone, and the time is to come when it
is to be the cheaper fuel.

The exhibition of live-stock was an interesting feature. The
cattle were mostly grades of Durham, AjTshire and Jersey, and
appeared to be good dairy cattle. There were some animals of
pure blood shown by gentlemen who evidently wish to contribute
for the good of the societ}\ The display of horses and colts,
sheep, swine and poultry contributed largely to the interest of the
exhibition.

The exhibition of ploughing, although the entries were not large,
was warmly contested, and the work well done. There was also
a trial of speed on the track, after which fun was the order of
exercises. Antiques and horribles put in an appearance,, and went
round the track in vehicles and costumes which wouM baffle descrip-
tion. Then came the apple race and wheelbarrow race, in which
the boys took part and amused the crowd.

The exhibition in Athenaeum Hall, which is situated in the town,

APPENDIX. li

was of high order of excellence. The committee of arrangements
were mostly ladies. We were informed by one of the number that
she had served as one of the committee for eighteen }Tears, and we
have no doubt that many others have served faithfully and well.
The ladies' department was one of the most attractive features of
the exhibition. In domestic industry and the fine arts, the many
useful and beautiful things exhibited showed much genius in their
design, as well as talent in their execution, and evinced the most
commendable taste, industry and skill on the part of the exhibitors.
It is gratifying to state further, that the fair contributors to this
department in large numbers graced this exhibition with their
presence, materially adding to its interest and attraction.

The protracted drought which has prevailed on the island the past
season produced no visible effect in the display of fruit and vege-
tables and farm products which were on exhibition ; and specimens
of very excellent quality were on the tables, affording evidence of
skilful cultivation.

The bread and butter exhibited were of marked excellence. The
superiority of the bread we could easily comprehend, but were at a
loss to understand how such excellent butter can be made where
pastures are apparently so poor. But we cheerfully confess that we
have never seen or eaten better butter and bread than it was our
pleasure to have on Nantucket. And we have pleasant recollec-
tions, and our obligations are due to the president of the society
for his hospitality and untiring efforts in our behalf.

O. B. Had wen.

MARTHA'S VINEYARD.

The seventeenth exhibition of the agriculture of Martha's Vineyard
occurred on the 6th, 7th and 8th of October.

Upon my arrival in the afternoon of the first day, the live-stock
was removed from the grounds, and some of it was seen on the roads
returning homewards.

The display within the hall was of varied character, and of much
interest. Apples, pears, grapes, and other fruits, with garden and
field-vegetables, adorned the tables. The fruit was not of the best,
but the growers, nevertheless, merit praise, since the resistance of
nature to their efforts is such as to make success — a knowing man.
Potatoes, of several varieties, were of extraordinary size and excel-
lent appearance. The corn and grains were of notable quality. A
dish of tomatoes — large, fair and uniform, at this late season —

lii REPORTS OF DELEGATES.

should not be passed without notice. Evidence of some interest in
the culture of cranberries was found in several entries of this fruit, —
a single branch, with berries upon it^ showed the prolificness of this
fruit, exceptionall}', and the opportunity for improvement that may
be expected to come from the selection of the seed or cuttings from
the best vines, and successive plantings. I was told that a fair,
average yield, for a good piece of land well improved, is twenty-five
barrels a year. The round and the pear-shaped berr}- grow together,
but the round is preferable, as keeping longer.

The butter was of good appearance, and notably uniform in color,
resulting, probably, from the absence of coloring-matter, and the
similarity in breed of the cattle from which it was produced. Some
eleven persons received premiums or gratuities. It is my impres-
sion, the society distributes mone}' very freely under the system of
gratuities, and that most of the entries draw something from the
treasury.

The ladies' industrial department was not wanting in features of
interest. There was a quilt made by " a lady, 80 years old, of fine
linen, which she spun and wove from flax that grew upon her father's
farm." How suggestive is this of the old-time independence of the
farm life, when the family skill and the farm supplied nearly all of its
modest wants !

There was something done in the way of testing the strength and
patience of cattle ; and opportunity was given for persons to show
their skill in the handling of the plough. The encouragement
extended to the horse-interest cannot lead to a very rapid produc-
tion of professional jockeys. The track was soft, not altogether
level, and no great speed was attained. • The time, as given by the
committee, was 3.12, 3.28, 3.36, and three horses received premiums
in this order.

The live-stock, other than horses, was shown the first dajT only.
I am informed the entries of cattle were near 100, — about the same
number of sheep, and 25 coops of poultry.

The Wareham Band furnished music upon the grounds by day,
and each evening, in the upper hall, enlivened the dance. This was
apparently enjoyed by the young people, with somewhat of the
serious demeanor of the Puritan character ; while the gentlemen of
the benches — too modest to lead ladies to the floor — applauded,
admired, despaired, as the various phases of the occasion prompted.
It was pleasing to observe the bloom of health, and the light of
intelligence, mellowed by a choice moral culture, that lit up the
features of many persons, and to note the absence of the foreign
face, not yet attuned to bear the look of the standard American
citizen.

APPENDIX. liii

The impression remains on my mind that the society is exerting
a wholesome influence upon the agriculture of the island, — an influ-
ence more appreciable than is exerted by some of our societies.
There is something of an insular character to the fair. The farmer
labors under many disadvantages. The hearty support, however, the
society receives from a large number of persons, makes the occasion
of the fair interesting ; and the bounty of the State appears in the
light of a benefit to the society, as an organization, and an encour-
ager of well-directed rural industry.

I was not content to leave the island without making an attempt
to see so much of its live-stock as a willing horse upon sand}' roads
(for the most part) would permit within the time allowed me. I pro-
pose onty to refer to the cattle. These are largely Ayrshire, nearly
every animal showing trace of Ayrshire ancestry. The society,in 1863,
purchased and brought to the island twelve head of cattle of this breed,
and disposed of them to the farmers, "they binding themselves not
to sell any^ of their stock off the island for five years." Here we find
an important enterprise inaugurated b}r an agricultural society. But
I am bound to bear witness to doubts of its wisdom entertained by
so many persons upon the island, that the impression left upon my
mind is, that there is a general discontent with the result of the
experiment. By some it is said the original animals were not of the
first quality. Some complained of the stock being breachy and of
too small size. It will be remembered that much of the present
stock, while showing Ayrshire markings, have mongrel ancestry at
no great remove. Many of the animals appeared to me of fair size
for the breed, of handsome form, with small development of milk-
vessels. Since no steps have been taken to supplant the "stock, I
cannot think the criticism of it disproves the judgment of the society
in desiring its introduction. I desired to make inquiry of fifty
farmers as to their experience with these cattle, tabulate the replies,
and present the results here.

The delegate to the society, the year preceding the importation,
reported, that " there was not a valuable animal upon the ground."
Delegates since have spoken in terms of praise of the general char-
acter of the stock shown. From a series of reports, and from what
I witnessed upon the farms, though unacquainted with the stock the
Ayrshires have largely supplanted, I am willing to believe the animals
now upon the island would be better dairy animals were they supplied
with a food more suited for the production of milk, and the beef}',
handsome bulls sent to the butcher ; but I am slow to come to any
doubt of the superiority of the Ayrshire to other breeds for this
island, so long as the service asked of the animal is milk. .

It is much to be regretted that the society, in the era before the

liv REPORTS OF DELEGATES.

advent of the Ayrshires, did not secure the keeping of a record of
the weight of milk produced by the average cow and the exception-
ally good cow. Had we information of the produce of the old-time
cattle, the weighing of the produce of their successors and com-
parison of the two yields would settle beyond controversy which
breed is superior in respect to quantity of yield. A little further
consideration and comparison would settle beyond controversy which
is the superior in respect to profitableness.

In view of the simplicity of the problem and the interest we all
feel in it, is it not a little singular that it remains unsolved? Is it
too much to ask of this society, and of all our societies, to so direct
their encouragement of the agricultural interest as shall give us the
yields of numerous herds from year to year, with the breed and
weight of the animals?

The lack of this information causes communities to be content to
feed and milk daily animals of a breed inferior in profitableness to
another that is within their reach. For long years after a few
persons have taken to the more profitable breed, the majorit}* cling
to the cattle with which they are familiar.

Joseph N. Sturtevant.

FIKA^CIAL KETUBXS

AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES,

For 1874.

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lxvi

PREMIUMS AND GRATUITIES.

Analysis of Premiums and Gratuities Awarded— Concluded.

MISCELLANEOUS.

SOCIETIES.

* S

111
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Massachusetts,

Middlesex,

Middlesex North, .

Middlesex South, .

Worcester,

Worcester West,

Worcester North, .

Worcester North-West,

Worcester South, .

Worcester South-East,

Hampshire, Franklin &
Hampden,

Hampshire,

Highland, .

Hampden,

Hampden East,

Union,

Franklin, .

Deerfield Valley,

Berkshire,

Hoosac Valley,

Housatonic,

Norfolk, .

Hingham, .

Bristol,

Bristol Central,

Plymouth,

Marshfield,

Barnstable,

Nantucket,

Martha's Vineyard, .

Totals,

$85 00
22 00
20 00
15 00

8 00
23 00

9 00

6 00
74 00

1 00
1 00

7 50
50 00
20 00
35 00

17 00
50 00
10 00
12 00
20 50

$30 00

60 00
22 00
30 00
25 00
30 00
35 00
30 00

20 00

15 00
25 00

40 00
50 00
'30 00

60 00
50 00
7 00
13 00
17 00

$522 25

$615 00

$1,500 00*
25 00

$1,800 OOf

12 00
3 00

4 00
16 00

6 00

6 25
65 00

338 87

1,193 00

20 00

7 50

$1,798 00

$3,497 12

$550 00

1,300 00
800 00
4S2 00

. 250 00
600 00
400 00
245 00

965 00

250 00
26 00

150 00

63 00

100 00

125 00

1,350 00

780 00

360 00

1,680 00

1,170 00

829 00

50 00

20 00

$12,545 00

$170 00

133 25

65 75

119 00

26 25

91 50.

78 87

164 75

50 00

11 50

59 00

89 90

88 25

77 15

67 40

42 95

288 75

83 75

795 00

270 75

318 00

80 50

432 25
229 50
232 30
174 62
193 70
108 00
132 36

$4,685 00

308
214
174
155
171
220
114
174
163
370

254
177
96
84
190
272
239

320
397
172

628
265
587
544
260
161
250

7,002

* To the chemical laboratory of the Bussey Institute.

t To the botanic garden at Cambridge, $1,500; and to the Massachusetts Agricultural
College for four scholarships, $300.

APPENDIX. lxvii

Summary.

In the financial returns from the various county agricultural
societies, some important and interesting statistics are obtainable.

The thirty societies, of the thirty-one, drew from the state treasury,
in 1874, the sum of $17,599.91 as bounties. The Massachusetts So-
ciety has not drawn any bounty for a number of years. The thirty-one
societies during the year received in the aggregate, from all sources,
the large amount of $132,842.60. The largest receipts, $13,054.81,
were by the Bristol Society. The smallest, $955.93, by the Hamp-
den East Society. The average receipts amounted to $4,285.24.
The total amount of premiums and gratuities paid was $44,834.37,
or an average of $1,446.27 to each society. The largest amount
paid in premiums, $3,934, was by the Bristol Society ; the smallest
amount, $610.20, by the Deerfield Valley. The largest amount in
premiums paid by any society in proportion to its entire receipts was
by the Middlesex South, which paid over 82 per cent. The smallest
percentage of premiums, in proportion to its receipts, was made by
the Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden Society, which paid in
premiums only about 1 2 per cent. The total disbursements for the
year in the thirty-one societies amounted to $126,309.17, or an
average of $4,084.17. The thirty-one societies own in real estate
and personal property, above all indebtedness, the large amount of
$539,664.29. The two richest societies are the Massachusetts,
worth $68,000, and' the Bristol, $55,342.85. The society having
the smallest permanent fund is the Nantucket, $2,617.

The total amount offered in premiums by all the societies for
farm improvements, in which are included management of farms,
experiments in draining, subsoiling, ploughing, reclaiming swamp-
lands, experiments with manures, hedges and ornamental trees,
reclaiming old pastures, orchards of all kinds, etc., was only
$4,108.75, while the entire amount paid out in premiums for farm
improvements was only $1,465.40.

The total amount offered for live-stock, in which are included
bulls, milch cows, heifers, calves, working oxen, steers, fat cattle,
horses (excluding trotting horses), sheep, swine, poultry, etc., was
$27,078.83, out of which was actually paid $22,283.91.

The total amount paid out for farm products, which include fruits,
butter, cheese, grains, roots, etc., etc., was $7,864.52, while for
agricultural implements, forest trees, additional experiments with
manures and miscellaneous objects, there was awarded $11,117.37.

lxviii SUMMARY.

The whole amount paid for trotting horses was $12,545 ; but as
in some cases the amounts paid were in the form of " purses," and
were not taken from the funds of the societies, I cannot give the
actual percentage paid in this department from the treasuries of
the societies. The premiums were paid to 7,002 persons, the society
paying to the greatest number being the Bristol, 628 persons, and
the society paying to the least number being the Hampden East,
84 persons. The Bristol paid an average of about $6.26 to each
person who received a premium, and the Hampden East paid
about $10.45 to each. The average amount paid to each person
who received a premium throughout the thirty-one societies, was
about $6.40. The society that paid the greatest amount for trotting
horses was the Bristol, $1,680, or in proportion to its entire
premiums, about 40 per cent. There were several societies, how-
ever, which exceeded this proportion.

z
y

CO

ABSTRACT OF RETURNS

AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES

MASSACHUSETTS

1874.

EDITED BY

CHARLES L. FLINT,

SECRETARY Or THE STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

BOSTON:

WRIGHT & POTTER, STATE PRINTERS,
79 Milk Street (corner of Federal).

1875.

PREFACE.

The "Transactions" of the various societies receiving aid from
the Commonwealth, ought to give evidence of an earnest desire to
comply with the spirit, as well as the letter, of the law, and grow
stronger and better, more and more instructive and useful every
year. The diffusion of information, which every society has it in
its power to obtain, through its premium list and the reports of its
committees, ought to be regarded as a most direct and important
means of doing good, and of fulfilling its mission. The record of
the doings of the societies for the past year, is not up to a reason-
able standard of value and ability.

I am indebted to Col. Henry S. Russell, of Home Farm, Mil-
ton, for the admirable likeness of "Smuggler," drawn and engraved
expressly for this Report. This celebrated stallion, foaled near
Columbus, Ohio, in April, 1866, was taken to Kansas when two
years old, and there kept for saddle and farm-work till the fall of
1872, when he was, for the first time, handled' as a trotter ; his gait
up to that time had been a pace, but his readiness to adopt the
trot, as well as the length and power of his stride, encouraged his
owner to hope for the speed which last season so astonished the
whole countr}r.

When we remember that " Smuggler " obtained, in his first race, a
record faster than that of all other stallions, with years of training
and experience, and six weeks afterward won the Champion Purse
in still faster time, trotting the third heat in 2.20, we must admit
that he bids fair, if kept in training, to show himself the fastest
trotter ever bred.

He was sired by " Blanco " ; he by " Iron's Cadmus " ; he by
"Cadmus"; he by "American Eclipse," — running back to the

IV PREFACE.

very best thoroughbred blood ever imported to America ; and, while
there is a question concerning the breeding of his dam, the established
excellence of the blood inherited from his sire, as well as his own
power of giving his form to his get, encourages the belief that he
will prove champion in the stud, as he has on the turf.

He stands 15.3 ; weighs 1,075 pounds ; and has for color a rich,
mahogany bay, with blaze in the face.

My thanks are due, also, to J. D. W. French, Esq., of North
Andover, for cuts of " Fitz James " and " Sophie Douglas," from
his choice herd of Ayrshire stock.

" Fitz James," 550 ; calved June 10th, 1870. Sire, " Tarbolton,"
372 ; imported in 1864, and bred by William Muir, Scotland.
Dam, "Jessie," 493, by "Baldy," 90; imported in 1864, and bred
by Alexander Lindsay, Scotland. Grand-dam, " Bonny Jean," 290,
by "Harold," 119 ; imported in 1861, and bred by William Kirkwood,
Scotland. Great-grand-dam, " Handsome Nell," 423 ; imported in
1861, and bred by William Kirkwood, Scotland.

" Fitz James" took first prize as calf at New York State Fair ;
as yearling at New England Fair ; as two-year-old at New England
Fair.

"Sophie Douglas," 1847; calved July 10th, 1870. Sire, "Lord
Lion," 691. Dam, " Lillie Douglas," 549, by "Mdvor," 46.
Grand-dam, " Corslet," 37 ; imported by H. H. Peters, and bred by
David Cameron, Mearns, Scotland.

" Sophie Douglas " took the sweepstakes prize as the best Ayr-
shire cow, at the New England Fair, in 1873. From November
19th, 1874, to March 1st, 1875, her yield of milk was 2,691f
pounds.

CHARLES L. FLINT.

Boston, March, 1875.

OFFICERS OF THE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES— 1875.

MASSACHUSETTS.

President— THOMAS MOTLEY, of West Roxbury.
Secretary— EDWARD N. PERKINS, of Boston.

ESSEX.

President— WILLIAM SUTTON, of Peabody.
Secretary— CHARLES P. PRESTON, of Danvers.

MIDDLESEX.

President— SOWS CUMMINGS, of Woburn.
Secretary— RICHARD F. BARRETT, of Concord.

MIDDLESEX SOUTH.

President— JOHN JOHNSON, of Framingham.
Secretary— JAMES W. BROWN, of Framingham.

MIDDLESEX NORTH.

President— WILLIAM F. SALMON, of Lowell.
Secretary— E. T. ROWELL, of Lowell.

WORCESTER.

President— JOHN A. FAYERWEATHER, of Westborough.
Secretary— GEORGE H. EASTABROOK, of Worcester.

WORCESTER WEST.

President— GINERY TWICHELL, of Brookline.
Secretary— HENRY J. SHATTUCK, of Barre.

WORCESTER NORTH.

President— DANIEL C. MILES, of Westminster.
-Secretory— EDWARD B. SAWTELL, of Fitchburg.

WORCESTER NORTH-WEST.

President— COURTLON SANDERSON, of Phillipston.
Secretary— E. T. LEWIS, of Athol.

WORCESTER SOUTH.

Presided— NATHANIEL UPHAM, of Sturbridge.
Secretary— A. C. MORSE, of Sturbridge.

VI OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETIES.

WORCESTER SOUTH-EAST.

President— WHITMAN HOLBROOK, of Upton.
Secretary— -JOHN G. METCALF, of Mendon.

HAMPSHIRE, FRANKLIN AND HAMPDEN.

President— J. H. STEBBINS, of Deerfield.
Secretary — L. C. FERRY, of Northampton.

HAMPSHIRE.

President— R. C. COMINS, of North Hadley.
Secretary— J. L. SKINNER, of Amherst.

HIGHLAND.

. President— WILLIAM S. BOWEN, of Peru.

Secretary— JONATHAN McELWAIN, of Middlefield. ■

HAMPDEN.

President— WILLIAM PYNCHON, of Springfield.
Secretary— J. N. BAGG, of West Springfield.

HAMPDEN EAST.

President— HORACE P. WAIvEFLELD, of Palmer.
Secretary— GEORGE ROBINSON, of Palmer.

UNION.

President— HOWARD P. ROBINSON, of Blandford.
Secretary— HENRY K. HERRICK, of Blandford.

FRANKLIN.

President— IML A K. BROWN, of Bernardston.
Secretary— FRANCIS M. THOMPSON, of Greenfield.

DEERFIELD VALLEY.

President— DAVID L. SMITH, of Coleraine.
Secretary— JOSEPH H. SEARS, of Charlemont.

BERKSHIRE.

President— WILLIAM E. JOHNSON, of Williamstown.
Secretary— WM. H. MURRAY, of Pittsfield.

HOUSATONIC.

President— JAMES BULLARD, of Lee.

Secretary— HENRY T. ROBBLNS, of Great Barrington.

HOOSAC VALLEY.

President— JOHN M. COLE, of Williamstown.
Secretary— H. CLAY BLISS, of North Adams.

NORFOLK.

President— HENRY S. RUSSELL, of Milton.
Secretary— HENRY O. HHJJRETH, of Dedham.

OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETIES. Vll

BRISTOL.

President— WM. MASON, of Taunton.
Secretary— JAMES M. CUSHMAN, of Taunton.

BRISTOL CENTRAL.

President— JOHN A. HAWES, of Fairhaven.
Secretary— CHARLES DURFEE, of Fall River.

PLYMOUTH.

President— B. W. HARRIS, of East Bridgewater.
Secretary— LAFAYETTE KEITH, of Bridgewater.

HINGHAM.

President— ALBERT FEARING, of Hingham.
Secretary— FEARING BURR, of Hingham Centre.

MARSHFIELD.

President— GEORGE M. BAKER, of Marshfield.
Secretary— FRANCIS COLLAMORE, of Pembroke.

BARNSTABLE.

President— CHARLES F. SWIFT, of Yarmouthport.
Secretary— CHARLES THATCHER, 2d, of Barnstable.

NANTUCKET.

President— ANDREW M. MYRICK, of Nantucket.
Secretary— ALEXANDER MACY, Jr., of Nantucket.

MARTHA'S VINEYARD.

President— HENRY L. WHITING, of Tisbury.
Secretary— WILLIAM J. ROTCH, of Tisbury.

AGEICULTURAL EXHIBITIONS-1875.

Essex, at Danvers, ....
Middlesex, at Concord, .
Middlesex North, at Lowell, .
Middlesex South, at Framingham,
Worcester, at Worcester,
Worcester West, at Barre, .
Worcester North, at Fitchburg^ .
Worcester North-west, at Athol, .
Worcester South, at Sturbridge, .

Worcester South-east, at Milford,

Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden,

at Northampton,
Hampshire, at Amherst, .
Highland, at Middle field, .
Hampden, at Springfield, .
Hampden East, at Palmer,
Union, at Blandford, .
Franklin, at Greenfield, .
Deerfield Valley, at Gharlemont,
Berkshire, at Pitlsfield, .

Housatonic, at Great Barrington,

Hoosac Valley, at North Adams,
Norfolk, at Beadville,
Bristol, at Taunton, .
Bristol Central, at Myricle's, ,
Plymouth, at Bridgewater,
Hingham, at Hingham,
Marshfield, at Marshfield,
Barnstable, at Barnstable,
Nantucket, at Nantucket,
Martha's Vineyard, at West Tisbury,

. September 28 and 29.

. September 28, 29 and 30.

. September 29 and 30.

. September 21 and 22.

. September 23 and 24.

. September 30 and October 1.

. September 28.

. October 5 and 6.

. September 9 and 10.

( September 29 and 30, and

\ October 1.

^October 6, 7 and 8.

. September 28 and 29.

. September 16 and 17.

. October 5 and 6.

. September 23 and 24.

. September 22 and 23.

. September 30 and October 1.

. September 23 and 24.

. October 5, 6 and 7.

/"September 29 and 30, and

\ October 1.

. September 21, 22 and 23.

. September 30 and October 1.

. September 28, 29 and 30.

. September 15, 16 and 17.

. September 22, 23 and 24.

. September 29 and 30.

. October 6, 7 and 8.

. September 21 and 22.

. September 29 and 30.

. October 5 and 6.

AGEICULTEEE OF MASSACHUSETTS.

CAPITAL m FAKMING.

From an Address before the Essex Agricultural Society.

BY JOHN L. SHOREY.

In New England, and the older portions of the West, the
manufacturing population is centred in cities ; and the more
remote agricultural districts, iu which the fertility of soil
even originally good has been exhausted with but limited
power of renewal, will no longer support the natural in-
crease of population, capital, as represented by the value
of land, remains stationary ; labor is over-abundant, and
hence under-paid. But a remedy more than equal to the
difficulty is found in a widely-diffused taste for city life, that
leads our boys away from the farm, and makes the time they
are compelled to stay seem almost a hardship ; so that it
may even happen that those remaining are so few as to alter
the balauce in favor of home labor.

To go beyond the mere laborer, let us take the case of the
young man who, with little or no capital, but plenty of energy
and pluck, has decided to go where land is rich and abundant.
Such is a common type of the Western pioneer. To go where
land is still to be obtained at government prices, the settler
must go far beyond the region of cities. For a habitation
he hollows out the earth, roofs the excavation with logs and
thatch, and over all piles earth again. Earth-covered and
earth-surrounded, the first winter he may be obliged to quit
his burrow for the plains, there to obtain subsistence by huut-
1*

2 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTUKE.

ing buffalo. At last he is enabled to procure a few cattle ;
his fortune is begun. Is he prepared so long to endure sep-
aration from all that goes to make life pleasant to a social
being, ultimate success is well-nigh certain. This is not an
exaggerated picture. Many a stock -farmer who can count
his herds and flocks by the hundred, thus began; and who
will doubt that such energy and perseverance would win its
way at home ?

The grand distinction between the Eastern and Western
beginner of farm-life — and I admit its force — is, that the
pioneer, having once for all placed himself under conditions
of privation and self-denial, is compelled to stay, or suffer
the mortification of a retreat ; while the New Englander must
form and control the drift of circumstance, and from amidst
the temptations and enervating influences of advanced civili-
zation, stand forth strong and earnest in pursuit of a success
only to be earned at the "price of eternal vigilance."

I have said the pioneer must go far ; and this includes the
fact, not everywhere recognized, that the older-settled por-
tions of the West are no longer to be advantageously tilled
by the so-called skimming process. That no soil can long
remain in its natural condition while growing crops, is a self-
evident truth ; and to supply the exhausted elements of
fertility, capital is necessary. And thus it is seen that
with the one exception just mentioned, of stock-raising where
pasture is common, agriculture, as much as any other pursuit,
is concerned with capital, which here represents not only
labor, but fertilizing power.

The amount of capital that may be profitably employed in
working a given farm, though not a simple question, is yet
roughly determined by the price of land, which depends
upon locality (all of which I shall endeavor to show farther
on) ; and thus agriculture is reduced to the same basis as
any other industry upon which capital is engaged, the pecu-
niary returns depending, other things being equal, upon the
amount of capital invested ; which amount is here denoted
by the value of the land employed, together with the cost of
working it.

The main difficulty in the comprehension of this question
lies in the fact that a man is apt to think, because a farm is

CAPITAL IN FARMING. 3

large, that it ought to pay, no matter how little it is worth.
A small amount of money up in New Hampshire will buy a
large amount of land. Many a farm in New England is not
worth $1,200 ; and the wonder is, how, upon so little capital,
large families are maintained. The small returns of a farm
that, never fertile, yet, for generations to come, will furnish
a humble support to the husbandman content to receive it
as an inheritance, returns more than commensurate to the
slight value of the land, by no means necessarily discourage
investment; and to the possessor of a little means, who
would be unencumbered with the cares which attend even a
successful strife for wealth, the farms of Northern New
Hampshire offer a snug retreat.

But not in all parts of New England does this stationary con-
dition of agriculture exist. Sections such as our own county
represents, from their nearness to large cities, receive benefit
from the very causes that work disadvantage to remoter re-
gions. Here, farm-land is constantly rising in value from
the enlargement of city limits, not to mention enroachments
upon our domains by city wealth in the form of country
houses, or elegant villas for summer residence. Bearing in
mind, then, that the small amount of capital which many of
our farms represent is in itself sufficient reason for small
returns, let us consider what, if any, are the real drawbacks
to the pursuit of agriculture in New England.

One of the first questions that suggests itself is, Will not
the South and West pour in upon our markets out of the
abundance of their agricultural resources ?

For a time the very poverty of the frontier settler operates
in his favor. Content with almost anything in the way of
luxuries which older sections, from the variety of their in-
dustries, can furnish in exchange for his raw material, he
bears the disadvantage which he cannot overcome, and
brings into play almost as disturbing an element as the
cheap labor resulting from the opposite extreme of over-
population. But as year after year the tide of immigration
pours in upon the frontier, bringing with it other" industries
by which the wants of civilization are supplied and home
markets furnished to the agricultural community, this source
of danger to our interest is lessened.

4 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

That the disadvantage under which the distant producer
labors in competition with our home farmer is very great,
might sufficiently appear from the consideration of the cost
incurred and waste in transportation. But a condition
inseparable from the cultivation of large areas of cheap
land is distance from local markets ; and this condition
becomes doubly unfavorable when viewed in the light of the
tact alreadv mentioned, that no soil can Ions; be made to
yield even a fair return to mere tillage. For if it is con-
ceded to be an axiom that a constant renewal of fertility is
a necessity of continued production, it is surely no great
leap by which we come to the conclusion, that, other things
being equal, the successful conduct of a tillage form depends
upon the cost of manuring the land. And it is further evident,
that where population is most dense, this condition is best
fulfilled.

Were I asked to point out the best-paying farms of this
country, I should seek them, not where land is cheap and
agriculture conducted on a vast scale, but upon the outskirts
of some metropolis, — as, for instance, among the market-
gardens about Boston, the secret of whose success is hidden
only by the shades of night, when cart-load upon cart-load,
the waste of city consumption, is conveyed back to the out-
lying farms ; and thus, while the world is sleeping, is supplied,
as to a growing boy, such vitalizing gain as more than bal-
ances the daily loss. Nowhere better than in such sections
of city-surrounding country as our own county represents,
can the system of high farming be carried to perfection. The
nearness of the consumer furnishes a ready market tor veg-
etable products which, from their perishable nature, demand
immediate consumption, while unrivalled facilities for obtain-
ing fertilizers leave a margin for profits which can scarcely
be equalled in places more remote. It must not be forgotten,
however, that such favored sections have also their dis-
advantages. Little is the skill and capital needed profit-
ably to raise field-crops, compared to that which can enter
upon market-gardening with reasonable expectations of
success.

But a comparatively small number of husbandmen, either
East or West, are in a position to warrant high farming ; and

CAPITAL IN FARMING. 5

this brings me directly to the consideration of the question,
What is the proper size of a farm ?

Many persons are universal advocates of small farms, and
take every opportunity to establish their case by theory and
example. For authority they are fond of going back to the
ancient Romans, among whom agriculture was iu great
esteem, and whose writers invariably held that a small area,
thoroughly tilled, possessed every advantage over a larger
tract, poorly cultivated ; a precept valuable as applying to the
husbandry of thickly-settled districts, such as the region of
Rome then was.

Few would be so unwise, however, as to contend that the
stock-raiser on our Western plains ought, for the better prose-
cution of his calling, to fence in a small tract of land. Rather
let him range over that vast common, and watch his increasing
herd, paying no attention to bounds or limits. He is the
gainer, and the soil can suffer in nothing ; and herein is con-
tained a suggestion leading to a simple solution of this prob-
lem. We here perceive that the kind of production and
the amount of land to be employed are mutually dependent.
But there is yet room for further deduction, and, presuming
same amounts of capital, it is seen that the size of a farm,
and character as well, are determined by the distance and
importance of the nearest commercial centres.

This rule demands further statement and illustration. In
the degree that tillage land is cheap, and markets far, — con-
ditions which commonly co-exist, — should the farm be larger,
and devoted to that interest which calls for less expense in
cultivating. In other words, where laud is cheapest, the
cost of working it should be reduced to a minimum ; and
this least cost of working is best represented by the grow-
ing of stock, which by natural means supply their own
waste ; while, on the contrary, where laud is very dear,
only such an amount of capital should remain in the land as
will leave in the hands of the possessor working capital
sufficient thoroughly to till that land ; to which an exact
parallel is afforded by the merchant, who, in a locality
favorable for trade, and therefore commanding high rent,
occupies as little room as the proper conduct of his business
will permit ; otherwise, a certain part of his capital would

6 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

be, as it were, locked up, and therefore useless. On the
other hand, corresponding to the stock-raiser, is the storage-
dealer, who, in a place where rent is low, is enabled with
profit to furnish accommodation for goods at less cost than
the seller can keep them on hand, and whose gain is there-
fore room.

Between the two extremes represented by the market-gar-
den and the stock-farm lie means infinite in number and
minute in degree ; one of which is the milk-farm, involving,
as properly conducted, the whole science of the soiling of
cattle, and the best methods of breeding for milk; often
carried on in connection with the raising of roots and veg-
etables, both for the market and for consumption upon the
farm. Such is the character of my own estate. Lying half
way between the markets of Lynn and Salem, with facilities
for procuring fertilizers at a moderate cost, I yet find it
advantageous to provide for an additional supply by main-
taining live-stock upon the place. For the sake of per-
spicuity of statement, I may say that the part of my farm
devoted to the production of milk receives its renewal of
fertility from the dozen head of cattle in my barn, aided by
the necessary complement of swine ; while the waste result-
ing from the growth of marketable produce is supplied from
the stables and barnyards of the city. In order to preserve
the equilibrium of fertility throughout the sixty acres of
arable land contained in the farm, it is further necessary so
to change the location of the vegetable garden year by year,
that in a given length of time the whole area may have been
taken up and relaid to grass.

It is thus seen that, where manure is not to be purchased
to advantage, the introduction of live-stock is the only means
of preserving the fertility of the soil. Hence, according as a
farm is devoted more to garden or field crops, is it found
profitable to support a less or a larger number of live-stock.

The farthest limit which the New Englander can attain in
the direction of stock-raising is the dairy farm ; and though
up to this point there is absolutely no reason why New
England farming should not pay, and, as I have endeavored
to show, there is every evidence that it does yield a fair
return as gauged by other pursuits, — capital, skill and risk

CAPITAL IN FARMING. 7

considered, — yet it is certain that beyond this we cannot go.
For the pure stock-farm, the plains of the far West offer
their vast extent of common, with climate so mild as often to
render useless the labor of the herdsman in providing winter's
food or shelter. It may prove that under the influence of
those fertile fields and sunny pastures, live-stock will degen-
erate,— that the rugged hills and severer climate of New
England are better fitted to maintain the vigor of the parent
stock. Be this as it may, the greater price of less fertile
pasture and the long wintering far more than counterbalance
any advantage that could possibly be derived from nearness
to markets ; and the New England farmer has done well to
abandon all effort to make stock-raising generally profitable.

Upon the methods and uses which now obtain in the various
branches of husbandry, it is scarcely the province of a gen-
eral essay to enter ; and especially with regard to details of
observation or experiment, such an effort could lead to no
satisfactory result. Indeed, it is chiefly owing to a desire on
the part of many agricultural writers, from the narrow basis
of their own experience, to establish rules for general prac-
tice, that a contempt for so-called book-farming has sprung
up among practical agriculturists. Not altogether is the
writer to be blamed. To be carried away with theories
which owe their birth to one's intellectual travail, is the
most natural thing in the world ; and the learner seeking
for truth, ought to take into consideration this enthusiasm of
a writer over his own productions, and weigh each statement
as gold of suspected coinage. The results of experiments
are seldom wilfully misstated, no matter how blindly truth
and error are confounded in deduction ; so that an impartial
investigation can scarcely fail to afford information of value
to the inquirer.

I now pass to a subject, a full, consideration of which would
involve the whole science of agriculture, properly so called,
but which is nevertheless in its main points capable of concise
statement. I refer to the rotation of crops. To begin with
the simplest proposition, it is self-evident, that, besides the
elements of growth contained in air and water, a vegetable
substance is made up from constituents of the soil. Chem-
istry shows us what these elements are, and in what propor-

8 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

tion they occur in different forms of vegetable life. It remains,
then, to ascertain what elements a given soil contains, and in
what proportion, and we are ready to apply our principle.
Let the elements of fertility contained in a given soil be rep-
resented by the letters A, B, C. We plant, for instance, a
vegetable which contains the same elements as are represented
by C. The original soil contains A, plus B, plus C. At the
end of the year a certain amount of C is appropriated ; and by
the same process repeated a few successive years, C becomes
exhausted.

It is evident, as the vegetable produced contains only C,
that A and B still remain in the soil. Then take another
vegetable, the constituents of which are represented by B.
That the product which called for the elements of fertility
denoted by C can no longer be grown is no reason why a crop
requiring B will not turn out as well as did the former the
first season. And so we might go on until the sum-total of
the fertilizing elements denoted by A, B and C is exhausted,
and the soil is, in common phrase, run out. It is thus seen
that, under the conditions here supposed, a succession of
equally good crops is grown upon the same land, without any
addition of fertility.

The vast economy effected in the productiveness of a given
piece of ground, by the observance of this rule, becomes
apparent upon the most cursory view. Old-time farming saw
necessity of fallowing where soil had ceased to be productive
of a given crop ; and this constant lying idle of some part
of the land is in reality just to what neglect of the principles
of rotation leads to-day. Many a farmer, year after year, by
preparing the same land for the same crop with an occasional
fallowing, goes on piling up wealth of fertilizing power, per-
haps only to be utilized by his more enlightened successor.

Simple, however, as is this underlying principle of the
rotation of crops, it suggests problems most difficult of solu-
tion. It is easy to say, given the relative amount of fertiliz-
ing agents contained in a certain soil, determine the kind of
production to which it is adapted ; but it is not so easy to
ascertain either the elements contained, or the best combina-
tion of those elements, to forward as well as to insure vegetable
growth. We all know that different forms of food, which

CAPITAL IN FARMING. 9

contain about the same elements of nutrition, are different in
their effects upon the human system, and the same seems to
obtain of vegetable life, especially with regard to the stimu-
lating qualities of certain manures. And it is upon this
ground alone, as I have before hinted, that the efficacy of the
manures of commerce may be established as affording that
concentration with which is associated stimulating power.

Again it is found that a stated crop does not follow in rota-
tion, with the same result, all crops to which it bears the same
chemical relation.

But to turn from the complexities which the refinements of
agriculture open to our view, the most marked effects of the
workings of this great principle are to be observed in the
crudest attempts at tilling the soil, and it is to nature herself
that we look to behold the most striking instance of the law,
that when there is no artificial renewal of fertility, change
becomes a necessity of long-continued growth. Witness the
evergreen forest, which, once levelled by the woodman's axe,
turns, or may it not be, returns, to a deciduous growth.
2*

10 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

THE CURRENCY, AND ITS EFFECT ON
THE FARMING INTEREST.

From an Address before the Hampshire Agricultural Society.

BY JULIUS H. SEELYE.

First, we may ask the question, What is money? There
have been, I dare say, a great many different answers to this
question. Money is wealth, one says ; and so it is ; but,
then, all wealth is not money. Horses are animals ; but all
animals are not horses. Well, money is wealth everywhere,
to be sure, though wealth is not everywhere money. Thus
we see what money is not. We may inquire, What is wealth?
Wealth, — that is a very simple term. It is really a man's
weal, a man's well-being, — something good for a man to have.
Wealth is something useful, something beneficial, and it is
not possible for any man to have too much wealth ; it is not
possible for any community to have too much wealth. A
man or a community may very easily misuse wealth, but not
because there is too much of it. Man may misuse his health,
but he is never too healthy ; may misuse knowledge, but
never know too much. A man may misuse anything that is
good and serviceable, but it is not because he has got too
much of the good, but because he has not the right wisdom or
right will to use it. It is not possible that there should be
too much wealth for any man, or too much wealth in the com-
munity, for wealth is always useful. But we have got to add
something to this matter of usefulness to see what wealth is.
It has got to be something which is useful and which costs
labor to get it. That is the point. That is what makes
wealth. It has got to cost labor. Labor enters into wealth
everywhere that it is found.

CURRENCY AND FARMING. 11

Now, if you should go up to Prof. Shephard's cabinet, in
the college, you would see the model of what is called the
"Welcome Nugget," found in Australia, which weighed, in
pure gold, to the value of $40,000. Well, the miner who
found it stumbled upon it by the merest chance ; and you say,
"How did this cost him labor?" Well, it did not cost that
miner labor, to be sure ; but it represented exactly what that
amount of gold would cost on an average. Men who seek
gold have got to give so much labor in order to get that
amount, and if any man stumbles upon the precious metal,
that accident does not disturb the rule. There is no wealth
which has not labor in it. It is that which is useful to a man,
and that which costs labor to get it ; and thus we are prepared
to see that, if there is something useful that costs labor to get
it, every one wants' it, and every one is willing to do some-
thing to get it in proportion to his sense of need.

Wealth is of various sorts ; houses, cattle, well-cultivated
farms, are wealth. All these may be wealth, but not the
particular kind of wealth we may need at some certain time.
A store full of boots and shoes is wealth, but the man who
owns them may need something else, and, therefore, he is
eager to exchange these for something that everybody is
willing to take. Now, we want something by which we can
regulate such exchanges ; the one has got to balance the other.
Thus the advantage in having some standard, in order to tell
us just how much wealth is represented by any commodity.
This standard is money, and this is the difference between
money and wealth. Wealth needs a standard of value, in
order to tell how much wealth is worth, so that we may know
how to exchange our products, and thus money is a standard
of value.

Now, these two things will give us the notion exactly what
money is. It is always a standard of value, and it is a medium
of exchange. These two things have got to belong to money
everywhere money is found. In order to be a standard of
value, it has got to be valuable, — that is, it has got to cost
labor, and it has got to be something which people will desire,
— both these in order to be a standard of value. And, if you
keep both these elements in mind, it is possible, you see, to
have anything as a standard value. Are you aware what the

12 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

first money made legal currency in this our Commonwealth
was? On the 4th of March, 1635, the general court of the
colony ordered that bullets of full bore should be counted
legal currency at the rate of a farthing apiece. In 1637, the
same general court ordered that merchantable beaver should
be reckoned as money at the rate of ten shillings a pound.
Next, wampum was made current. Innumerable other things
have been used as money, — iron with the Lacedemonians,
cattle with the Romans and our Saxon ancestors, leather
with the Carthaginians, cubes of salt with the Abyssinians,
etc. ; so that anything that is really an object of desire costs
labor, from the time of Abraham, when he paid to the chil-
dren of Heth 400 shekels of silver, till now.

With the civilized and commercial people of the globe,
gold and silver have been the money of the world, and there
are some things which are advantageous in the metals, which
explain why they are used as money. They are valuable ;
everybody wants gold aud silver, not simply as money, but
for ornaments, for plate and other uses. They are valuable
in themselves, and then they cost labor to get them, so that
here are metals that have a real value in themselves, and
have the first element which is necessary in money. They
wear out very slowly, are very easily divisible and largely
distributed, are of the same quality and subject to very few
fluctuations. Our money, then, is so much gold and silver.

Now, we shall notice that the value of money depends
exactly on the amount of circulation. The amount is the
great thing. The more money there is, the less valuable,
just as in any other commodity, and this brings to notice a
very important matter about money, little understood ; that
where a nation uses gold aud silver, there is never any
possibility of a redundancy or stringency of the money
market. Supposing we have got, for a time, a redundancy
— more money than is needed. What takes place? One
of two things, probably both. In the first place, gold
becomes cheap, and we at once begin to use it for other
thiugs than money — for ornaments, plate and other pur-
poses. When gold is cheap, that means that other things
are dear in comparison with it. This immediately leads to
the sending off of gold to where it is not so cheap, for the

CURRENCY AND FARMING. 13

purchase of goods, and all at once we find a change from
redundancy to a healthy equilibrium. So, when there is a
stringency, when gold becomes dear, it will be diverted
from the making of ornaments and fancy uses, and used for
money ; and just as prices rose in the other case, just so now
they will fall. And so, by a law of adjustment just as
beautiful as that of the tides and as inevitable, there is not
any possibility of a redundancy or stringency of the money
market where gold and silver — that is, where the money of
the world — are used.

What, then, is the meaning of these panics and financial
revulsions? Are these meaningless? By no means. We
find them occurring all over the world, from time to time.
We find, for instance, that a man in Amherst, say, is unable
to pay his merchant ; he, in turn, is unable to pay the whole-
sale dealer in New York or Boston, and so the consequences
extend, and finally result in a panic, the influence of which
may extend all over the world. But how do these panics
come ? They are possible only because we have put some-
thing else in the place of money — undertaken to use the
shadow of the thing, and make that do the work of the sub-
stance. That is the only reason. Financial panics never
have occurred — from the nature of the case they never can
occur — where the money of the country is genuine money
current all over the globe. They all come from no other
reason than as I have said : we have got the shadow under-
taking to do the work of the substance, which means, in plain
language, that we have been telling lies on a large scale —
and it is not profitable to lie.

Now, this being the case, it leads us to notice the important
difference between money and currency ; that is, between
money as I have explained it and the currency as we actually
have it. We have got a certain currency — certain papers
printed on both sides — which we call money ; and the trouble
is, we are undertaking to make it do the work of money, and
we cannot succeed. This currency, I say, is not money, is
not a standard of value, because, in the first place, it has not
got any value in itself; it does not cost anything to get it, and
therefore cannot be a standard of value. Moreover, what
sort of a standard is that which stretches out at the beck of

14 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

Congress or the will of anybody else ? On the 25th of Feb-
ruary, 1862, Congress passed a law decreeing that one hun-
dred and fifty millions of paper should be made legal tender.
July 11th this was increased by another one hundred and fifty
millions. At the same time it was decreed that nothing
should be issued of less denomination than one dollar, but in
less than a week Congress passed a law issuing fractional
currency, of which we have had some forty millions, and this
in the face of the declaration of Congress that it should not be
issued. Then, on the 25th of February, the next year (1863) ,
Congress authorized the national banking system, allowing
the national banks to issue three hundred millions of currency ;
and then, the 3d of March, the same year, ordered out one
hundred millions more of greenbacks ; on the 12th of July,
1870, fifty-four millions more. Then our present Congress,
after a debate on the currency, which for folly, I believe, has
never been equalled in any civilized assemblage on the globe,
— now, I speak within bounds, there (applause) ; I don't know
anywhere of such exhibitions of folly in legislative utterance
as you will find in such speeches as those of Kelley, of Penn-
sylvania ; Ferry, of Michigan ; Logan, of Illinois, and others,
— well, after this debate, they passed a law ordering twenty-
six millions more of legal tender. After they had added this,
they would have issued still more, and were only hindered
from flooding the country by the steadfastness of President
Grant.

Now, I would like to know what sort of a standard would
you call that sort of a yard or bushel which could be stretched
out at this rate, and you obliged, mind you, to use this
stretched measure for the same as the old one ? Some one
says, "Isn't it a medium of exchange ? Cannot we buy things
with greenbacks?" Of course we can, to a certain extent,
but every one knows we cannot buy as much with these paper
promises as we could with the dollar which they are falsely
supposed to represent. Moreover, we cannot take them
abroad. A bank of England note will buy all over the world,
because there is gold behind it, and the whole world knows
it ; but a United States promise to pay does not buy goods
outside of the United States, except to a very limited extent
in Canada, and this for the reason that it is a dishonored

CURRENCY AND FARMING. 15

promise ; it is the promise of a government that is dishonored
every time it issues them. The government does not pay
what it promises, cannot pay what it promises, makes no at-
tempt to pa}r what it promises ; therefore, I say it is dishon-
est. But No, says Mr. Boutwell ; Mr. George S. Boutwell,
a senator of Massachusetts, and a late secretary of the treas-
ury. No, he says, this is not a dishonest promise. Look at
it ; the government does not promise to pay at any definite
time ; therefore the government is not dishonest, says Mr.
Boutwell, — says it from his seat in the senate, — because there
is no specified time of payment. No specified time of pay-
ment ! What sort of an operation is that ? Suppose a man
should come to borrow money of you, but without setting any
time of payment, and supposing he could wheedle you into
lending money on such terms, and when you come to him for
its return, he refuses, because he had set no time for its pay-
ment,— what sort of a rascal would you call him who thus
took advantage of your folly? Now, gentlemen, these are
dishonored promises to pay, and thus produce mischief, and
are not worth anything outside of the country that forces their
acceptance.

Coming back to the main question, — being money as a
medium of exchange, — I say they do not exchange for what
gold and silver would, and they are forced upon us to our
incalculable injury. I think any one who looks at the matter
honestly is obliged to say that this whole legal-tender business
is one of the greatest mistakes, if not the greatest mistake, of
our war. Just look at it ; see what it has done. This same
legal-tender act has increased our national debt more than
one thousand millions of dollars ; it has swollen prodigiously
all over our state, town and county indebtedness ; has aug-
mented our taxes, increased the expenses of living, encouraged
unthrift and extravagance in the government. Worse than
all that, it has poisoned the minds of the people by familiar-
izing them with these promises, and obliging them to use
them as though they were good and true. And I say this
only needed the addition of a decree of. the supreme court of
the United States, making it the law of the laud, to make it
the heaviest curse, the greatest of all mistakes, made in that
terrible peiiod of our national life.

16 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

Are you aware of what our supreme court has done about
the matter? In the spring of 1870 the question came before
the court as to the constitutionality of the legal-tender act in
its application to debts contracted before its passage. The
supreme court decided, as any honest body must, that it was
not applicable in such cases. Contracts made when gold was
the legal currency should be paid in gold. Any honest eye
can see that this is plain justice and law, and so it was decided
by a majority of four to three. But what was now the action
of our wise law-makers at Washington thereupon? There
were prodigious interests at stake. All of our great railroad
corporations, by this decision, had got to pay their bonds in
gold. So Congress passes an act increasing the number of
the supreme court judges from seven to nine. General Grant
appoints to fill the two places thus made a judge who, in an
inferior court, had already pronounced an opposite decision
to the above, and a man who was the paid attorney of the
Pennsylvania Central Railroad. Then followed a reversion
of the decision of the supreme court, by a majority of five to
four, to the effect that the act was constitutional, and this is
the way we stand now. Somebody says, "How could we
have got along in the war without issuing paper money?"
There was an offer by a German banking-house to furnish all
the money wanted at five per cent, interest, payable forty
years hence. But Congress ignored this ; forty years was
too long to wait for the privilege of payment. Moreover, it
said, this is a foreign investment ; we must keep our bonds at
home. Not let our bonds go abroad? How is Congress
going to help it? These same German capitalists came over
and bought these bonds, and have got one thousand millions
of them now, and we have got to pay the interest to them.
Europeans have got five hundred millions more of state bonds,
municipal bonds, etc. ; that is, we have got fifteen hundred
millions of bonds held in Europe that we are bound to pay
gold for. But our Congress would not borrow money of these
German capitalists. Another fact : one would suppose that,
if a government has not got money enough, it should borrow
money in the market. "But," said one Congressman, "would
you have the great government of the United States go shin-
ning about Wall Street selling bonds?" Well, the issue of

CURRENCY AND FARMING. 1?

our legal-tenders resulted in selling millions of them at forty
cents on a dollar, and these German capitalists and other
foreign capitalists invested money at that time — and well,
too.

But, not to dwell on this matter of the mistake of our legal-
tender currency, it is the currency of the country, it is forced
upon us. We have got to endure it till we can get rid of it.
Let us see some of the burdens it lays upon us ; upon the
farmers of the country, all over it. And in this connection
one or two financial laws may be stated. A man who gets
hold of these simple principles of finance can see where they
will lead to. These laws are just as certain and fixed as that
of gravitation. One law is, when we export any commodity
and retain of that commodity for our own consumption at
home, the price of the part we retain is measured exactly by
the price of what we send off". The price of wheat, for
instance, or bread-stuffs generally, which we are exporting
largely, depends exactly on the prices current in Mark Lane,
London, which is the controlling market of the world. The
price in Mark Lane determines just what any farmer in Mas-
sachusetts or Minnesota has got to sell his wheat or corn for,
minus the cost of transportation, and this cost you will notice
is to be estimated in gold ; only gold is taken there. Now,
notice that productions that we produce and do not export,
and use the whole of them at home, are determined in price
by the home market exclusively, and the prices are regulated
in currency all through. Now let us see what it is we export
besides gold and bonds. First and largest, of course, cotton ;
petroleum, grain, flour, bread-stuffs, butter, beef, cheese, lard,
pork and tobacco. Agricultural products, you see, make up
the great body of our exports. Now, the price of all these
agricultural productions that we do not export depends, neces-
sarily, on the price of those we do export, and the prices of
those we do export are reckoned on the gold basis. Gold,
we will say, stands at 1.10, which makes the farmer sell his
produce there at the rate of 1.10 in currency for the dollar in
gold. Now, this which the farmer sells, he sells on the gold
basis ; but, on the other hand, the productions which he is
obliged to buy — cotton goods, woollen goods, boots and shoes,
labor, etc., which are not exporting in any quantity — have
3* •

18 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

their price determined, necessarily, by the state of the market
at home, and this market at home, estimated in currency, has
shown a rise in prices with which you are all familiar. It has
been the policy of the government to keep down the price of
gold by occasional sales of the reserve in the treasury, but
the government has not been able to keep down the prices of
these other things. It is certainly within bounds to say that
there has been a rise in prices of fifty per cent. Now put
these two facts together. For what you sell, you sell in gold
at a reduced valu ti(,n by this procedure ; for what you buy,
you have got to pay in currency at the full valuation. Gold
at 1.10 raises prices to 1.50, which makes the difference of
forty per cent, which you are obliged to sacrifice in every
bargain you make. There is the simple fact that presses
upon the farmers of to-day. There is forty per cent, of their
substance wrung from them by this mischievous currency and
the course of the treasury department at Washington. The
farmers understand that they are burdened, but a great many
of them do not know for the life of them why, and so they
go on talking about it in a blind fashion, saying this is the
trouble and that.

Some say it is the railroads. I do not propose to take up
in defence of the railroads ; but our tariff of fifty per cent,
on iron, the rise in wages and the higher cost of construction,
freights, etc., have made them far from profitable. Of course,
they bear heavily on the Western farmer, who must get his
grain to market ; but those men are foolish counsellors who
try to delude the farmers in the West with the thought that
the whole trouble is with the railroads. The farmers are set
against the greedy capitalists, as they call them. But how
does the problem look to these greedy capitalists? They have
three hundred and fifty millions invested in railroads at the
AVest, and, with the exception of a few isolated cases, none
of them are paying a cent in dividends. So far as getting
any money from them, the capitalists might just as well throw
their money into the sea. The trouble is not with the rail-
roads ; the trouble is not with the great class of middle-men,
about which we hear so much; a class which, in a country
like ours, it is perfectly idle to think of getting along without.
The trouble is not taxation. Taxation is heavy; it is prodig-

CURRENCY AND FARMING. 19

iously heavier than it would have been but for this malignant
currency ; but you could pay it without feeling it if it was not
for this currency. It is not possible for any prosperity to
rest upon the agricultural interests of the country as long as
this currency, which is eating out their life-blood like a cancer,
is allowed to exist. Therefore, amid all the folly that we
hear about among grown-up men, is there anything quite so
senseless as the cry which comes up from our Western farmers
for an increase of the currency? These Western farmers
have got affiliations here. I know I may be treading on
somebody's toes, but I am not a paid machine-runner, and I
never intend to seek office, and I say that this granger inter-
est, in so far as it is an interest for the increase of the cur-
rency, is folly. I will not compare it to the man that killed
the goose that laid the golden egg, but to the man who, with
his house burning over his head, endeavors to quench the
flames with that which makes them burn only the fiercer.

Now let us pause for a moment. It is not the agricultural
interests alone that are affected by vitiated currency, but the
manufacturers also. Our manufacturers complain of hard
times, notwithstanding the tariff. There are a few articles of
which we export more now than in 1860, while of others less.
Our cotton manufacturers, who have been meeting in Boston
of late, have been talking of an over-production, and com-
bined to shut down their mills, but they would not have to
enter into any such combination if the market of the world
was open before them. Why is not the market open? The
great reason is the shiftless management respecting the cur-
rency, and the depreciation and the change of prices that have
resulted. The markets of the world are simply closed against
us, and thus that which burdens the farmer burdens the
manufacturer, as well as the professional man likewise.

In closing, I am not going to say what you shall do, but I
want to speak of what the government has got to do, — what
it ought to do. Let us see just what the government is shut
up to. It is shut up to one of four courses. In the first
place, it is possible you can conceive of Mr. Boutwell's policy,
the stand-still policy, the let-alone policy ; in other words, '
the policy of growing up to the need of the volume of cur-
rency we have now. But this is simply impossible. There

20 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

is no such thing as growing up, except through a contraction
of prices. What is the result of a contraction of prices?
The pressure at once for an expansion of currency, and, judg-
ing from our long experience, we know the result. There is
no such thing as standing still. Why, Congress passes laws
decreeing that the amount of currency shall be fixed, but all
the votes of Congress are not worth the parchment upon which
they are engrossed. Congress has, as a matter of fact, been
leaping from one folly to another all through this discussion,
and who knows to what depth of folly will be the next
plunge ?

In the next place, the question comes, "Shall we expand?"
Certainly, it is possible to expand, and I am sorry to say that
it looks very probable that this will be the case. Why, it is
logical that the currency should be expanded. Why should
not we expand? Other governments have tried it, and have
had to expand. There is only one government that has over
stemmed the tide — Great Britain ; and that only with the
suspension of the Bank of England for twenty years. You
know how it Was with our continental money. Congress
began, in 1775, by ordering two millions of paper currency.
At first, people felicitated themselves, just as they did when
the greenbacks were first issued, on the flushness of money ;
but very soon there had to be more, and Congress did not
stop till three hundred millions were issued. Then the whole
thing dropped down, and these issues have not been paid and
cannot be paid. Why, the tendency to inflation cannot be
stopped, under present circumstances, any more than the
insatiable thirst of the drunkard. Thus I think, I am sorry
to say, that expansion is extremely probable.

Third : expansion means repudiation. There is nothing
that can stop it. I am thankful that this word repudiation is
a terrible one to us thus far. Would that we could but hope
that it would keep its terrors ! But we shall get bravely used
to it, sadly used to it, if we go on. Expansion means it.
We cannot help it.

And thus we come, in the fourth place, to the only honest and
the only sound and wise course, and the only course. Does
it need to be said that the only course is a contraction of the
currency? And in this connection, a great deal of nonsense

CURRENCY AND FARMING. 21

has been talked. Some prominent papers have said that the
only way to resume is to resume. Only let Congress pass a
law and resume. Resumption ! How are you going to
resume? How are }Tou going to pay specie for those notes,
if you have not got the specie to pay with? It is a very
simple problem. How much specie have you got? Perhaps
one hundred and fifty millions, all told. But we have got
seven hundred and fifty millions of currency. Add to that six
hundred millions of deposits, and there are thirteen hundred
millions, and you have got one hundred and fifty-six millions
to pay it. It is very nice for our newspapers to say resume,
but what have you got to resume with ? The only way we
can get the money is to make a vacuum, and the money comes.
The poor currency always must drive out the strong currency,
and there is no way to get the strong currency back till you
have abridged the quantity of weak currency which has driven
it out. Now, we cannot get the specie, except we contract
our currency; and so this is what, as wise men, as honest
men, as freemen, we ought to demand of the government ;
and the government ought to do it without any demanding,
and ought to have done it, I had almost said, before it began
to do otherwise.

22 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

MANAGEMENT OF FAEMS.

From an Address before the Berkshire Agricultural Society.

BY EICHARD LATHEES.

The farmer, in spreading the manures from his stable, per-
forms, perhaps, one of the less dignified operations of his
calling ; but his olfactories are subjected to but the same
ordeal from the escape of the ammonia in the dung, as the
chemist is subjected to when the same gas is generated under
professional operations in the laboratory.

Lands in this county, to be made profitable, must be worked
economically, — not as gardens or English parks, but well-
drained, cleanly-cultivated farms, with plenty of fertilizers
used to increase the crop as an economical way to utilize
labor. The cost of planting and tilling and reaping the crop
is the same without as with manure, and the profit consists in
a larger yield. One ton of hay to the acre may yield a profit
of $5, but two tons very little increases the cost of labor, and
we have $20 profit on the acre instead of $5. A field has six
acres of wet land, producing a kind of sour grass, only fit for
bedding. A tile-drain, costing $10 to $20, renders it fit to
produce ten tons of timothy, worth $150, — for these wet lands
I have found to be the most fertile when drained. A ten-acre
lot is mowed, year after year, by careless farmers, leaving an
increasing margin of weeds and briars around the fences, till
the lot is practically reduced to eight acres, and the hay-crop
reduced in the same ratio. An economical farmer mows off
the weeds and grubs up the briars, top-dresses the whole with
bone-dust or other fertilizers, which adds to his next year's
crops such additional yield as to pay for the labor and the

MANAGEMENT OF FARMS. 23

fertilizers also. The same economy induces him to keep the
grass-margin of the roads free of weeds, and if his neighbors
do not illegally pasture their cattle on the road, he reaps an
increased good crop of hay, and avoids the reputation of a
slovenly farmer. He plants fruit and ornamental trees, and
is too good an economist to let them be overgrown with
suckers and weeds ; and when he has the misfortune to find
wild carrot and Canada thistles, he roots them out at once,
instead of cultivating them by mowing them, or permitting
them to spread by neglecting them till the seed matures. A
few minutes in July and August, each day, devoted to pulling
these pests of the'farmer, — the wild carrot and thistle, — will
exterminate them in a couple of seasons, unless an untidy
neighbor, or a railroad embankment filled with the annual
crops of weeds, is permitted to scatter fresh seed over your
premises, in which cases there ought to be influence enough
in the agricultural societies of the State with the legislature,
to compel every owner of property to abate such a nuisance.

Warm stables for cattle and horses are an economical sys-
tem of saving feed, as well as merciful to your animals. Gates
well hung and fastened, instead of bars, and few fences as
possible, are things well understood, but, I regret to say, not
well practised through the country. Our roads, too, do
not come up to an economical standard. They are badly
engineered and worse worked ; and our wear and tear of
vehicles, backsmith's bills for extra shoeing, added to the loss
of time in passing over mud-holes, or stony, rough side-hills,
and the necessity of driving two horses, when, on a good
road, one would be sufficient, produce an annual cost to our
farmers over threefold the sum for which good roads could be
maintained. Wet roads should be tile-drained and gravelled,
as the most economical mode of keeping them dry and hard
in fall and spring and free of dust in summer.

The expensive macadamized roads of Great Britain have
been found the most economical, because one horse on these
roads will draw a heavier load than two can draw on the com-
mon roads ; and the wear and tear of the vehicles so reduced,
to say nothing of the comfort as well as the saving of time to
the farmer and the travelling public, all combine to render
the road-tax a popular public expenditure, yielding, as it

24 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

does, so much public utility to all classes. Roads should be
under the charge of an expert, constantly occupied repairing
and improving them, subject to the supervision of an active
and intelligent official, to be paid for his whole time, instead
of the present practice of annually appointing some popular
farmer, whose honesty and skill as a farmer do not always
fit him for road-making, and who generally is too busily
engaged planting or reaping his crops to be able to attend the
roads at the time when the public interests require they should
be worked. Side-hill and stony roads, in many cases, are
allowed to be gullied with defective water-courses till they
become impassable, and in the dry, heated part of the summer,
if the road-master can spare the time from the duties of his
own farm, he scrapes up a loose, pulverized soil out of the
gutters, heaps up the centre of the road, covering up the
stones and gullies with a mixture of the most disagreeable
manure and sand, destructive alike to the eyes and throat of
man and beast. The fall rains come and wash this top-dress-
ing Of good manure into the gutters again, fertilizing the
rich crop of weeds which fringo such roads, and the next sea-
son the operation is repeated at public expense, and thought-
less men call this economy !

I will not trouble you with the defective roadways over
rotten bridges and narrow passages, which will not permit
two vehicles to pass without the danger of one or both foiling
off the high embankment, which false economy foists on the
public by a too rigid restriction of public expenditure, whose
safety of life and limb seems to be the last consideration. If
that noble animal, and faithful servant of the farmer, — the
horse, — could be permitted to address you on this subject,
the next town-meeting would witness a change of policy as
merciful to the horse as it would be economical to man. Good
roads are not only essential to economy, convenience and
comfort, but have a decided influence on the value of property
contiguous to them. Such improvements are second only
to railways in their influence on production and economy in
transporting persons and property.

And now permit me, after pleading for the comfort and
safety of the horse against such road commissioners as practi-
cally murder the noble animal, and threaten your own life and

MANAGEMENT OF FARMS. 25

limb b}r false economy, to ask your liberal provision for the
development of the useful qualities, and your best servant, —
the horse. You have judiciously provided liberal premiums
for excellence in the production of the great essentials of agri-
culture and for the manly accomplishments connected there-
with. This stimulus to the taste and industry of our wives
and daughters has produced this large and various collection
of beautiful and useful articles which adorn the halls of your
exhibition. But I fear you have not sufficiently considered
the value the of noble animal, to which so large a portion of our
comfort and convenience is due ; not to mention his coopera-
tive labor, which, in every relation of the former's life, is indis-
pensable to us. The good and useful qualities of the horse
are certainly entitled to the advantages of protection, and if
subsidies are ever proper, surely the cultivation of the horse
must not be niggardly employed by an agricultural commu-
nity. The horse is not only one of the valuable productions
of agriculture, and, as such, should be encouraged as a source
of profit to our community, by fostering the business of breed-
ing of blooded-stock, but furnishes also an innocent and
manly source of recreation and amusement in the trial of
speed, which adds a valuable and profitable attraction to our
exhibitions.

\t is not sound reasoning to object to trotting as a main
feature of your cattle-shows, because that practice, in other
quarters, has fallen into unworthy hands and degenerated
into evil practices. Every occupation, perhaps every source
of pleasure, in this life, and, indeed, moral duties themselves,
by exaggeration, are often carried to excess, and degenerate ;
but the restraining influence of religion and morality, and the
general cultivation and refinement which follow such influence
in New England, are the only guards against excess in the
enjoyment of lawful pleasures and appetites with which nature
has endowed us. Our great master, Christ, turned water into
wine — a miracle — to promote the enjoyment of his disciples at
the marriage-feast of Cana ; but the restraining influence of
his holy presence and example prevented intoxication. He
cast out of the Temple those that sold doves, and overthrew
the tables of the money-changers, not because they sold doves
or dealt in money, but because they practised these avoca-

4*

26 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

tions dishonestly, and made the Temple a den of thieves.
We have our sons and daughters taught music and dancing
without fear that they shall become professionals in the ballet.
And we play chess, cards and billiards with them, as a family-
recreation at home, fearless of contamination by the gambling-
hells of our cities and towns, because they are not contami-
nated by association with that vicious class who practise those
games for professional gain.

Much of the excess which undoubtedly arises out of a per-
verted use of lawful recreation or pleasures, is the result of
association with depraved and wicked people. The immoral
and depraved practices of many of the professional horse-
jockeys are not to be avoided by abstinence from a trial of
speed, or of any other quality of the horse, but by avoiding
the gambling and immoral associations which too often dis-
grace the race-course, and detract from the manly taste which
establishes this amusement. In an assembly of farmers, com-
posed of gentlemen of character and of moral and religious
training, surrounded by their wives and families, a trial of the
speed of horses is just as free from moral danger as the trial
of the strength of the same' animals, or any contest of skill in
power which it may be the intent of the public to initiate for
use or pleasure. Our farmers pursue various occupations
suited to their taste and convenience, producing respectively
such things as the wants of the community call for. And it
is the intent of all that equal inducements shall be employed
to promote a home-production of the highest order for use or
pleasure, and all agricultural sections have profited by a
liberal introduction of blooded stock. Therefore, premiums
for speed, which shall attract the largest competition, under
well-regulated contests, should be promoted for the obvious
encouragement of persons engaged in this expensive and
hazardous branch of production ; and if this practice shall
induce a larger attendance of intelligent and industrious
people, for even purposes of relaxation and pleasure, your
treasury will be the better supplied for more liberal dispensa-
tion of premiums to foster the general purposes of your
society, and you will also enlist a livelier interest in the
annual meetings, and measurably withdraw young men from
other sources of amusement less guarded against temptation.

MANAGEMENT OF FARMS. 27

But to return to the practical management of our farms.
Let us consider briefly, and in only a sketchy way, the sub-
ject of the most economical mode of fertiliziug our lands. I
do not presume, in the face of this large and intelligent body
of practical farmers, to deal with this important and com-
plicated subject, exhaustively, in an anniversary address.
The want of time and the variety of antagonistical theories
which confront this important question, and indeed my own
incapacity to grasp a scientific subject of such magnitude
before a reading audience like this, constrains me to adduce a
few facts and shape my suggestions in such a way as to
induce you to investigate the subject more deeply for your-
selves, not for the purpose of undervaluing the established
use of barn-yard manure, which must always continue an
important fertilizing auxiliary of our farms, but to inves-
tigate the importance aud economical values of the artificial
substitutes by which nearly the whole civilized world have
increased the productive power of farm lands in the last
quarter of a century, and ask yourselves whether the agricult-
ure of Massachusetts should be an exception in the pro-
fitable use of this contribution to agricultural science.

Apart from the relative cheapness of these artificial
manures, the great facility of procuring any quantity at
any time, and the greater saving of labor in applying them,
it has been demonstrated that the production of the barn-yard
falls far short of restoring the waste and general impoverish-
ment of many important chemical qualities in the land,
steadily cropped or pastured. Formerly rotation of crops
and throwing out lands to fallow, in England, was the only
remedy. Now exhausted pastures are completely restored
by an application of bone-dust, which furnishes the phosphate
of lime carried off in the milk of the cattle and which their
dung could not reproduce. In that section of England so
celebrated for dairy-farming, where the Cheshire cheese is
produced in such abundance and in such superior quality, it
was discovered many years since, that, although the pastures
and meadows exhibited their usual verdure, producing largo
crops of grass, when fed out to some valuable breeds of cattle,
it failed to produce the usual quantity of butter and cheese,
although yielding the quantity of milk. On investigating

28 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

the causes, by skilful agricultural chemists, it was found that,
by analysis of the land, nearly all the phosphate had been
exhausted; and, following the lead of science, they supplied
the deficiency by a liberal use of bone-dust, and the cheese
and butter production of former years was fully restored in
that section. And the practical farmers of that section are
now convinced that there may be substitutes for barn-yard
manure.

A few years after the promulgation of a discovery or inven-
tion in the arts or manufactures, it comes into general use,
unless practical defect beyond remedy is developed. Farmers,
however, are slow and not always sure in their adoption of
new appliances of economy or convenience.

In the year 1608, William Piatt, an English farmer of the pro-
gressive kind, published a work descriptive of his successful
use of artificial fertilizers in the production of wheat by the
use of horn-shavings and bones, and his profitable use of
soap-suds and ashes for garden products. Great indignation
was expressed against his theories (and his experiments were
disregarded), as setting forth strange doctrines, tending to
unsettle the more orthodox agricultural doctrines of barn-yard
manure as the only fertilizer ; and we find that it took over
two hundred years to eradicate this prejudice sufficiently to
induce English formers to use the artificial manures which
now produce the larger part of their crops. The European agri-
culturists are at this time almost wholly indebted to imported
artificial fertilizers for the production of their forms. The
island of Ichaboo, on the coast of Africa, had exported, in
1844, for European consumption a bed of guano 1,100 feet
long, 400 feet broad and 30 feet deep ; and almost the
chief support of the Peruvian government is the sale of the
enormous quantity of guano which fleets of ships annually
transport to Europe and America for fertilizing the land, much
of which has been thus rescued from sterility by this fortunate
discovery. The whole cotton-crop of the South, and most of
of the other Southern products of the soil, are fertilized with
artificial manure, guano, phosphate of lime, bone-dust, and
such mixtures of fertilizing ingredients as our agricultural
chemists find necessary to supply exhausted lands or to stim-
ulate dormant qualities in new land.

MANAGEMENT OF FARMS. 29

The value of barn-yard manure must be conceded by every
practical farmer, but true economy must deal with the cost,
not only of producing it, but the cost of its application. In
old times, when farmers had large families of boys, with no
other occupation but the farm, and wages of hired men were
almost nominal, and when the chief production of the farm,
for want of a ready market, had to be consumed on the form,
the labor of manipulation of manure from the stable to the
barn-yard, and thence to the field, was an inexpensive recre-
ation of practical industry, of winter amusement to keep the
boys and hired man in practice ; but Avhen hay and straw find
a ready market at three or four fold the former prices, and
labor is scarce and dear, and the boys have gone into other
avocations away from home, the feeding out hay and straw to
stock during a long winter, for the purpose of making manures
to fertilize the farm, is a mpst expensive mode of producing
crops, as compared with the sale of surplus hay and straw for
money to buy fertilizers with which to restore your exhausted
field. For instance, a cow will consume at least two tons of
hay during the winter, worth, at present prices, $30 to $40,
and no farmer can hope that $10 worth of manure will be
produced thereby. The milk and butter of the average cow
for the year will not compensate the farmer for the labor of
the year and pasture during the summer, to say nothing of
the interest and risk of the capital invested in the cow, and
the value of the barn-room and additional fences of the pasture-
land requisite for her keeping. It is true, there are excep-
tions to this, and milk and butter are a prime necessity to the
farmer's family. The argument deals only with the practice
of keeping stock beyond this necessity, for the purpose of
making fertilizers for the farm, which it is contended is an
enormous waste of means, and seriously cripples the farmer
by his unwisely undertaking the business of making fertilizers
at a cost far beyond their real value.

Twenty loads of barn-yard manure is certainly worth $40,
and costs the farmer perhaps twice that sum in the consump-
tion of hay by the necessary number of cattle over and above
their winter product of milk, even if the cattle are not dry
during that season. These twenty loads, worth $40, will
fertilize but an acre of land, while half that sum will furnish a

30 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

manufactured fertilizer of equal potency, the labor of apply-
ing which will save at least $5 more. The freedom from wild
carrots, dock, Canada thistles and other noxious weeds, is
a further consideration in favor of this concentrated manure
over the crude article of the barn-yard. Calico printers, for
many years, used the solid excrement of the cow to brighten
and fasten colors in cotton cloth. Some latent quality was
ascribed to the living animal, till it was discovered that a
mixture of phosphate of soda and some other chemical salt
answered the same purpose, and was more cleanly, economical
and convenient in application. Peruvian bark, for many cen-
turies, was regarded as the only cure for fever, and the poor
patient was compelled, under the direction of the family
physician, to drug his port wine with this nauseous and bulky
remedy ; but medical and chemical science discovered that the
curative principle of this bark consisted of the quinine to be
extracted from it, and the useless woody fibre is now dis-
pensed with. Agricultural chemistry has discovered that the
larger part of the bulky and useless portions of barn-yard
manure may be dispensed with, and the fertilizing value is
thereby reduced to a few chemical elements, which furnish
food for plants or produce soluble action in certain ingredients
of the common soil. Guano, bone-dust, phosphate of lime
and gypsum constitute important representatives of the fer-
tilizing qualities needed ; and when we reflect that but one-
fortieth of the weight of even the much-valued horse manure,
when reduced, is fertilizing matter, we are irresistibly driven
to the belief that a corresponding reform in fertilizing
land is as necessary in agriculture as the introduction of minute
doses of quinine to cure the fever, instead of filling the
patient's stomach with bushels of Peruvian bark. If science
was permitted to do for farming what it has done for manu-
facturing and other occupations in this Commonwealth, our
lands would double in value and in products. Yankee energy
and success would be developed among the agricultural classes,
and our young men would find the homestead of their fathers,
in the old Bay State, too valuable an inheritance to leave for
the discomforts of Western emigration, or the more hazardous
life of untried business speculations.

THE VOCATION OF FARMING. 31

THE VOCATION OF FARMING.

From an Address before the Housatonic Agricultural Society.

BY ORVILLE DEWEY.

It is said that there are, in the world, more than a thousand
millions of human beings. Certainly more ; though no state-
ment on such a point can be very exact. But how they sub-
sist,— that is, where their food comes from, — is very simple
to state. It comes from the earth; partly, indeed, from the
rivers and oceans, but mostly from the land. This fact gives
to the cultivators of the soil, in one view, the highest place
in the world. Men can live without clergy, lawyer, or doctor ;
without merchant, manufacturer, or mechanic ; but they can-
not live without the farmer. Agriculture, as of old was
fabled of Atlas, bears the world upon its shoulders.

The man, therefore, who plants seed in the ground and
harvests the growth, may have the satisfaction of reflecting
that it is he who keeps the world alive and agoing. The
millionaire who rides by, with splendid equipage, may well
bow to him ; for the ploughman may say to him, "The world
can do without you, but it cannot do without me." But
whether he bows or not, mankind bows to the land owner
and cultivator. His is the most respectable kind of posses-
sion. Of all property, his is regarded as having a kind of
special dignity. This feeling is said to arise, in part, from
the fact, that the old feudal lords were chiefly rich in landed
estates. But I think that it is in part, also, because produc-
tive soil, commonly called real estate, is the only solid, sub-
stantial basis on which the human generations stand, and live
and move and have their being. How often have I heard the

32 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

man, rich in bonds and stocks, express his satisfaction, when
he first got hold of a piece of ground that he could call his
own, — that was his, down to the centre and up to the sky ;
and no creature could dispute it, in the heavens above or in
the earth beneath.

How, then, does it come to pass, if all this be so, that the
farm and farm-work rank so low, with many, in the scale of
human professions and employments? Farming is the almost
universal condition of men, made so by the ordination of
Providence. Would it not be strange, if it must be so in the
providential order, the least desirable of all conditions? I
hear that our young men, everywhere, are seeking to escape
from it — are rushing to the cities, to factories, to shops. I
suppose it is because many of them can find nothing else to
do, or think they cannot. But I imagine it is also because
most of them look upon the crowded quarters of life and
business as more attractive. Farming, in their eyes, is dis-
agreeable, dull, hard work.

Now, of this vocation I wish to say a few words, as a voca-
tion— not of methods of culture, of which I am not qualified
to speak, but of farm life and work, as a vocation.

We know least that which is nearest to us. We see least
that which is under our very eyes. Familiarity, if it does
not " breed contempt," breeds insensibility, breeds ignorance.
We do not read our own life, for instance, half so clearly or
so intently, as we do the story of some strange thing that has
happened in Texas. The common street, before our eyes,
with its passing vehicles — I doubt whether one person in a
hundred, ever marks the beauty of those revolving wheels.
Will any of you look at them and tell me if he ever thought
of it. "The sun is all very well," said the Irishman, "but
the moon is worth two of it ; for the moon affords us light in
the night-time, when we want it ; whereas the sun is with us
in the day-time, when we have no use for it." The sun that
gives us light is forgotten, because he gives it every day.
It is so in everything. This scene around us, this great
world-show, with its revolving sweep of a thousand miles an
hour, does not strike many so much as a conjuror's cup and
balls. This being that we are, — this wonder of 'breathing life
and thought, — this healthful and happy play of thousands of

THE VOCATION OF FARMING. 33

veins and muscles and nerves, does not move many persons
as much as would the gift of a dollar.

And so, if you will give me leave, I doubt whether we
truly appreciate this which I call the vocation of farming —
what it is, or what may be made of it. The first element of
it, or what commonly presents itself as the first, — labor, — is
a totally different thing from what many think it is. Instead
of being all evil and hardship, it is the greatest blessing in the
world. Absolute freedom from it, would be utter misery.
Hard, is it, to labor? But imagine the whole human race to
wake in the morning, and so for the successive mornings of a
month or a year, with nothing to do ! They would die of ennui,
or plunge into the madness of universal disorder. And hard
work is not found on farms alone. I hear traders, factory
operatives, mechanics, carpenters, blacksmiths, talking very
much as farmers do, about their tasks. They get very tired,
every day. It is so with all life. It costs much, because it
is meant to be worth much.

Because it is meant to be worth much — that is the key-
thought which I wish to present to you, and to show how it
applies to agricultural pursuits. But let me first say a word
upon the attractiveness of this, as compared with other pur-
suits. Why should farming be thought less agreeable, less
interesting as a business, than manufacturing or trading?
For my own part, I think I had rather go out into the fields
and open air, to plough and plant, and to gather in the harvest
of wheat and corn and the orchard, than to spend my days
in the noisy factory or the counting-room and the warehouse.
The hay and harvest season is commonly accounted to be a
joyous time ; the vintage in Italy, the gayest of the year ; and
let me say, in passing, that our orchards give us a more valu-
able fruit than grapes, and a drink more agreeable and health-
ful than the common wine of Europe. If some extreme
temperance person here should call me in question for this
allusion, I would say that cider is not an intoxicating drink.
In my youthful days, it was got into our cellars, five, ten or
twenty barrels of it, and it was on tap to the wmole house ;
and I never heard of but one man, who was intoxicated by it ;
and his case Was so marked that he went among us by the
name of "Cider Johnson."
5*

34 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

But to return to the point I was considering, — why should
making and selling broadcloth and calico, salt and kerosene,
be thought more attractive than the care of a farm? Farming
is a more varied employment ; it is not so monotonous as
work in factories and shops. It may be harder at times ;
but it is not so unintermitting ; there is more leisure in it, —
leisure of rainy days and of the winter-season. And, theu,
the results are surer ; it is a more certain support for a family.
It has its anxieties, but no panic invades it to scatter the
gains of half a life. Farmers do not fail. To be sure, they
do not make fortunes ; yet few do that in any business. But
the body of them are better off than the body of those who
work in factories or marts or mines. And, finally, for the
products, — neither silken fabrics nor costly furniture, nor
gems nor gold, can compare in beauty with acres of corn, —
the most splendid of vegetable growths, — with waving grain-
fields and rich meadows, and the cattle upon a thousand
hills.

I do not mean to make any romance of farming. There is
a great deal of hard work in it ; but so there is in everything
that is thoroughly and well done. I only say that no fabrics,
no furnished warehouses, show anything so beautiful as that
which springs from the farmer's hand. And I arm tempted to
say, that his especially is a religious calling. He who makes
or sells goods, he who tends the spinning-jenny, or chips all
day with the adze, or builds a house, has enough in his work,
it is true, to remind him of a Power beyond his own ; but he
who plants or sows the seed looks for the springing of that
which comes immediately from the hand of God. He does
not make it — he does not make wheat or corn — as a man
makes a house or a locomotive. And all around him are the
sunshine and the showers, the hills and valleys, and countless
forms of animal life, which the devout naturalist studies as
manifestations of the Power divine.

But I find myself passing, in this observation, from mate-
rial to mental farm-culture. I mean the culture of the mind.
I will confine myself, in what I have further to say, to this
point. I have preached a great deal in my life, but I will
not preach now. Preaching, in my account, takes hold of
themes of infinite moment ; and you would not think it

THE VOCATION OF FARMING. 35

strange, perhaps, if an old man said something of that which
is his last life-interest and support. But passing by this,
I will speak of that which may help the general intelligence
of our rural population, and also of that which, in my opinion,
most hinders it.

And that, I think, which hinders it more than anything
else, is isolation. The factory, the trading-house, have the
advantage in this : men are brought together in them ; they
talk together ; they talk of what they read in newspapers or
in books ; in manufacturing places, when evening comes,
they are not solitary, as men are in farm-houses ; and I sus-
pect that, for this sole reason, the body of manufacturers and
traders are more intelligent than the body of farmers. There
is nothing that starts ideas like talk, or sharpens them like
that. Society is the very spring of improvement ; and of all
this the agricultural life has generally too little.

For this reason, I have taken great interest in the granges,
especially in their original intent of bringing farmers to-
gether, to confer upon their mutual interests and common
improvement. Why should there not be clubs, on a smaller
scale, and for more familiar intercourse? They have clubs in
cities ; there is far more need of them in the country. Let
ten persons meet in one another's houses, once a fortnight, to
talk of some subject before agreed upon — soils, manures,
methods of culture, what crops to raise and how, or on other
subjects out of their immediate line of business, and I believe
they would find interest and excitement in it, and would
come away with new ideas, and perhaps aspirations. Let
them take for a subject the industrial interests of the coun-
try, which they ought to understand, and let them read for
this Samuel B. Euggles's great report "On the Agricultural
Property and Products of the United States of America,"
lately published. Indeed, the matters for discussion that
would come before them would lead to, and would require,
some reading of books.

And here I enter more deeply into both the merits and dif-
ficulties of the case. " Books ! " it may be said ; " how can we
find time for books, or money to buy them ? " This latter diffi-
culty, I judge, is not so great as it was years ago. We are
growing to be better off. Goodrich's " Natural Philosophy,"

36 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

u highly illustrated and beautitul work, costing fifteen dol-
lars, found more than forty purchasers in Sheffield; and the
"State Atlas," costing twelve dollars, thirty more. I was told
of a man in Southington, Conn., when I visited that town,
some years ago, who found time, amidst his farm-work, to
make a study of nature ; who imported books from England
to assist him ; and who pursued his inquiries with a most
earnest and religious spirit.

But I admit the difficulty about books. And this leads me
to speak of the obvious and easy remedy for it — a town
library — an established public library, as a part of the equip-
ment for our general enlightenment, and the elevation of the
public mind. We live in an age of books, and books of such
moderate cost, that all may have what was utterly denied to
the people of former ages, and which, if they had them, they
could not read. Books are the breath of intellectual life to
the generations that are now coming upon the stage, and
without which any people must sink into notable ignorance
and obscurity. I do not say that book-knowledge makes a
man, but I say that it helps him to be the man that this age
and this country look for. We are not tenants and drudges,
working upon other men's lands, but work upon our own.
We would not cultivate our farms only, but we would culti-
vate ourselves. A man, I hope, is something greater than
his possessions ; greater than a herd of cattle, or a flock ot
sheep ; greater than a house, or form, or fortune.

Therefore, I advocate self-culture, as the highest interest
and duty that we have to take care of in this world. But I
wish to put what I have to say on this subject in a more
distinct form. We want, in each of our towns, a public insti-
tution for mental improvement. We have schools for the
education of our children. We have churches for religious
instruction. Is not something further necessary? The school-
learning is sadly technical. It stops with the school-lessons,
and does not take hold of life. Our religion needs the help
of larger knowledge and enlightenment. Suppose there were
in each town a building large enough for a hall for lectures
and other social gatherings ; for a library and reading-room;
a kitchen, to provide for occasional entertainments, and two
or three rooms, for a librarian, with a small family. A roof,

THE VOCATION OF FARMING. 37

two stories high, 45 by 25 feet, would cover the whole ; and
the building need not cost more than $2,000 or $2,500. A
subscription for it, in the first place, and then the product
of two or three days' labor from every man in town, would
furnish the requisite sum.

And then what have we ? First, a social rallying-place ; it
might be made large enough for a town hall and for public
business, as well as social uses. Next, a permanent library,
which, by reason of its established character, would gather
books to it from our private shelves, as also by purchase.
Stockbridge and Lenox have set us a good example in this
way, with the aid, indeed, of private beneficence. I wish
that some of those who are giving of their abundance for the
public welfare would think of this, not of asylums and hospi-
tals alone, but of the means of mental and moral help and
healing. Mr. Wm. Sturgis, of Boston, gave the family home
in Barnstable, large enough for a library-room and for the
librarian's family, and endowed it with sufficient means. Mr.
Bryant, who began his life as a lawyer, here in Great Bar-
rington, has erected a fire-proof building and a librarian's
house adjoining, and has collected more than 3,000 volumes,
altogether at an expense of $20,000 or $30,000, which are,
or are to be, presented to his native place, the town of Cum-
mington.

Few of our towns can expect such liberal benefactors, and
we must do the work for ourselves. In Sheffield we have tried
another thing. We have a "Friendly Union," and have had
meetings during the winter for three years past, once or twice
a wreek, for lectures, music, games and conversation, which
have proved very agreeable, and which, I hope, will be con-
tinued. If we can succeed in this ; if such an institution can
be made permanent ; if we can establish a library, which we
have already commenced, and can erect a building to be the
gathering-place and resort and support of good thought and
good feeling in the town, it will be a fountain of inappreciable
blessings for the years and generations to come.

Gentlemen, farmers and friends, I have not spoken to you
eloquently ; you did not expect it of me ; but I believe, if I
do not flatter myself too much, that I have spoken some things
worth thinking of. You may think now that what I have been

38 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

saying is not practical ; but is anything not practical which is
practicable for our highest good? You may accuse me of
idealizing ; but I have lived long enough to see that all good
ideals slowly turn to realities. The very progress of the
world lies in that. We have improved methods of agricul-
ture,— patent mowers and reapers and rakes. Is that all you
have to think of, — mowers and reapers and rakes ? Is there
to be no corresponding improvement in meutal culture ? Shall
material things absorb us, and the mind have nothing done
for it ? I believe the mind of New England is to advance ;
but it will not rise as it should if we rest content with merely
establishing common schools. Writing and ciphering may
make an adroit business people, but they will not make us the
intelligent people that we ought to be. A good town school-
house for adults — not alone libraries in cities, but in country
places — a great town school-house for adults — for books, for
reading, for lectures, for social gatherings ; I may not live to
see it, but I believe that many will see it, in the time to come.
Pardon me, friends and neighbors, if I speak to you one
word more. It shall be a short one. What I have been
saying suggests it. Ancient sages asked, What is the chief
good? The answer, then, now and forever, is, the chief good
is a good state of mind ; not what we possess, but what we
are ; not what is outside of us, but what is in us. Good
thoughts, good feelings, — let who will, take all other good in
exchange ; he will be a loser. Let who will, sell or sacrifice
them for gain, though he gain the whole world, he will be a
loser. Good thoughts, I repeat; they come to all who will
welcome them ; they cost nothing ; they are free as air and
sunshine ; they light up the world when it is darkest ; they
are a resource when all other resources fail ; they sweeten
the bitterest lot ; they cheer every toil ; they soothe every
sorrow ; if instead of millions, without them, I would leave
the best inheritance I could to my children, it would be
this — good thoughts.

HOW FARMING PAYS. 39

HOW FARMING PAYS.

From an Address before the Housatonic Agricultural Society.

BY RICHARD GOODMAN.

Nothing is better for nations and individuals than occasion-
ally to take an account of stock and see how they stand finan-
cially and morally, for unless we can realize our deficiencies,
we shall not be apt to make any improvement. The great
benefit of our autumnal fairs is not alone to observe the prog-
ress our neighbors have made during the past year, but also
to become aware how much less we ourselves have accomplished
than we might have done, and to create a resolve for doing
better hereafter. True, we are apt to wind up with a glorifi-
cation of our calling by the orator of the occasion and return
to our homes a little too well satisfied with our work and our-
selves, and again fold our hands with an unconscious sluggish-
ness. A peddler was offering Yankee clocks with a looking-
glass in front to a very homely lady. "Why, it is beautiful,"
said the vendor. "Beautiful, indeed ! a look at it almost
frightens me," said the lady. "Then, marm," replied Jona-
than, "I guess you had better buy one that has not got the
looking-glass in it ! " Now when we can bear to look at
ourselves just as we are, homely or not, — see ourselves as
others see us, — Ave shall be sure to go straighter than if too
much flattered.

Farmers are only mortals, and labor under some dis-
advantages, as all children of Adam do, though, from the
rhetoric of political orators, one would be led to imagine we
lived altogether in Paradise, without any "sarpints." Yet
you know better than I can tell you that there are dis-
contents, hard work, envious grumbling, and a good deal of
sore-heartedness, much of it without reason, and a great many

40 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

among us would like to exchange their calling for some other
if they could. They remain, reluctantly, for the same reason
that the painter gave for turning physician. "Because," said
he, "my former business exhibited my mistakes in too glaring
a manner, therefore I have now chosen one in which they will
all be buried." It is these kind of farmers who do so much
to prevent real progress in the business, doing as little as
possible themselves, and attempting to discourage others from
carrying out new ideas and keeping up with the natural
advancement of the time in which they live. You may hear
them, like frogs in a swamp, continually croaking, and the
burden of their refrain is, that "farming don't pay." Go into
almost any district in New England and ask the loafers,
sluggards and hand-to-mouth livers, why they do not go to
work, improve, bring up their farms, and they will tell you,
"the soil is worn out," "can't raise anything to profit," and
you will find, as like begets like, the more poor places and
sottish farms about, the more of this laggard class ; remind-
ing one of the country trader, who, purchasing goods in
Boston, was asked if he did not want some half-mourning1
goods. "I think I will take a lot," was the reply, "as many
people up our way appear to be about half dead." But just
let a circus come along, or a horse-trot take place, and these
dry aud lazy bones will rattle along, leaving the work at home
half accomplished ; and to see them and hear their cheery talk
on the road and' on the scene of action, a bystander would
consider them anions: the smartest folks around, belong-ins:,
indeed, to that class who are born at a very early period of
life.

In the ordinary commercial point of view, farming does
not pay; that is, it is not a business in which great ventures
can be made and riches quickly and easily accumulated ; and
the Creator never intended, so far as we can judge by past
history of nations, that agriculture should be a money-profit-
able pursuit. From the early patriarchs down to our fore-
fathers in New England, the tillers of the soil have been rich
only in herds and flocks, large families, virtuous homes, and
contented with pouring out from their homes those who,
desiring more enterprise and luxury, should build cities,
navigate the ocean, start new enterprises and amass wealth.

HOW FARMING PAYS. 41

Almost the only country in the "world not colonized and
settled in the interest of mammon, is New England. The lust
of gold brought to the rest of the New World, after its first
discovery, the adventurers whose deeds of cruelty have soiled
the pages of history ; but the men who left fatherland, with its
homes, its hallowed lives and holy graves, and lived in Holland
for a dozen years, and then tempted the tempestuous Atlantic
in vessels not larger than our coasting sloops and schooners,
and landed almost in midwinter on the bleakest coast of our
northern shores, welcomed only by storms, and "Indians,
lions, wolves," and prospective starvation, did so not to
increase their material wealth only, — though they were manly
enough not to remain a burden on their good Dutch friends in
Holland, — but to find a home where they could live as free
men, worship God in their own way, and get their children out
of the way of licentiousness and too much "taking of the bit
in their mouth," as the old chronicles expressed what is so
common in our households.

These Pilgrims were all working men, living by their own
labor in Holland, — Brewster, who was a man of property,
learning to be a printer at the age of 45 ; Bradford, who had
owned and farmed laud in England, becoming a silk-dyer ;
Robinson studying and preaching ; and so soon as the season
allowed, after their landing at Plymouth, they commenced
work, "digged their ground and sowed their seeds," and then
and there was laid the foundation of a commonwealth whose
only title to nobility was honest labor, where each man was
free to develop and gravitate to his own place and society.
That men did not, in those old colony days, seek office very
much, is^ evidenced by the fact that a law was passed in 1632,
imposing a penalty of twenty pounds on whoever should
refuse the office of governor, and ten pounds for declining to
be a magistrate. That race of self-denying patriots has
certainly run out in our day. Our politicians are too much
like the benevolent individuals referred to by the country
minister who, addressing his congregation, said, "When I told
you in my last charity sermon, that philanthropy was the love
of our species, you must have understood me to say specie,
which may account for the smallness of your contributions";
and, as a rule, whatever may be the opposition our public

6«

42 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

men meet with on going into office, they are apt to go out
with none at all, as their constituents are too much convinced
by self-evident proof, in these degenerate days, that their
representative represents his own interests rather than theirs,
and looks upon office as an easy means of bettering his con-
dition. Occasionally, perhaps, you may find an official who
fairly represents his constituency for better for worse, though
perchance few are as plain-spoken as the member, I will not
say of what legislature, who, indulging in afternoon naps,
requested his friend to awaken him when the Lumber Act came
on. His friend omitted it by forgetfulness, but accidentally
gave him a jog as the house was discussing a bill to prevent
fraud. The sleeper started up suddenly, rubbed his eyes,
and exclaimed, "Mr. Speaker, a word or two upon that bill,
for more than half of my constituents get their living no other
way."

The dignity of labor is purely a New England scheme of
thought, marking our country's history from the earliest
period of its settlement by our Puritan ancestors ; and the
great men of our earliest as well as more recent eras, hewed
their living and independence out of the wilderness, ennobling
the very axe and plough which were such useful instruments
in this peaceful warfare, and finding no station more exalted
than home and its surroundings. The rough country was
cultivated to the hill-tops, neat farm-houses dotted the land-
scape everywhere, the best and wisest contented themselves
with simple rural occupations, none felt the glow that now
warms and inspires every bosom to grow rich rapidly, but all
were satisfied with the comforts of life, and found their enjoy-
ments in the daily intercourse with pleasant rural objects,
with robust health and active exercise, with their children and
friends growing up about them ; and when called to preserve
their firesides from hostile attacks, or to sit in the councils of
state, they performed their obligations as became men and
citizens, and then gladly returned to their more congenial
employments. Neither did they neglect the amusements and
graces, so far as they could be found in a comparative wilder-
ness ; and though they stretched authority in these matters a
little too far, perhaps, prohibiting horse-racing and walking
about nights, putting drunkards and swearers into the stocks,

HOW FAKMING PAYS. 43

prohibiting card-playing, and lawyers talking longer than a
prescribed period, ordering the length of women's sleeves,
and punishing common scolds and expensive dressers, — fining
Hannibal Bosworth's daughter five shillings for wearing silk,
— yet they encouraged hunting and fishing, had farmers' feasts
and festivals, — "spinnings," where every woman, bearing her
wheel, went forth to a neighbor's, and, sitting together, in a
single afternoon spun the outfit of the coming bride, to the
music of the revolving wheels and equally swift-moving
tongues, — "huskings," where good round, romping games
followed the amply-filled supper-table, after which the young
couples wended their way homeward, and whispered those
little but important twitterings which generally twist up the
single threads of life into that double cord which binds us
safely and comfortably together on our walk through our
earthly pilgrimage.

Land was free, comparatively, among our forefathers, labor
not despised, and when employed with good will, sure to earn
a subsistence, as it is now, and consequently young men and
maidens united early in wedlock and took the consequences;
and such wooing as the following never took place among
them, though not uncommon with their degenerate descend-
ants : "I hope you will be able to support me," said a young
lady, while walking out one evening with her intended during
a somewhat slippery state of the sidewalks. "Why, yes,"
said the somewhat hesitating swain, "with a little assistance
from your father." On the contrary, if the men did not make
their wishes known before too long dallying, they were
prompted somewhat in this wise, as related of a young couple
who had been staying with mutual relations and evidently got
fond of each other, and when meeting on the stairs, the lady
said, "Did you say anything, John?" "No — nothing," stut-
tered out the swain. "Well, it is high time you did," replied
the interested fair one. You all recollect the story of the
courtship of Capt. Miles Standish, the man of very little
stature, yet of a peppery temper, who hesitated not to attack
all the armies of the Plymouth Colony with his army of eight,
and occasionally fourteen, men. Capt. Miles, as short and
peppery men are apt to, fell dreadfully in love with Priscilla
Mullins, but unwisely employed his friend, John Aldeu, who

44 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

was a better-looking fellow, to court her for him ; and when
John, after the usual preliminaries, sneaking about a little in
the daylight and wasting tallow in the evening, popped the
question on behalf of his friend, the Puritan beauty met his
proposal with the characteristic question, "Prithee, John,
why do you not speak for yourself? " John could not resist
such an appeal, and had to report to his principal the facts,
whereupon Capt. Miles was dreadfully put out, but came
round about the time of the wedding, after which Alden took
his wife home riding on a bull. Longfellow has immortalized
the incident of the courtship in verse, but he has made a
variance from historical truth by putting the hero upon a
steer instead of a bull. In fact, marriage among our fore-
fathers was at a premium ; they looked upon bachelors as an
expensive luxury, unproductive consumers, and not only taxed
them highly, but kept them under supervision, forbidding
them to live by themselves or in any family without the con-
sent of the selectmen. Children were an important considera-
tion— very handy to have in the country — and large families
greeted as a blessing. Nearly every household could equal
that of Jacob's in sons, and excel it in daughters ; and Reuben,
Simeon, Levi, Judah, Zebulon, Issachar, Dan, Gad, Asher,
Naphtali, Joseph and Benjamin, were not unlikely to have fair
counterparts in a Rachel, Adasa, Baruch, Beersheba, Jerusha,
Deborah, Hagar, Hannah, Leah, Miriam, Mehitable and Pris-
cilla ; and with such help there was no need of foreign labor,
and with such companions no hankering after cities and other
crowded places. There were no Miss Prims in those days to
repeat the refrain, so common among a certain class, "I can't
bear children," but plenty of good mothers, who would have
replied, as Mrs. Partington did to such a companion, "Perhaps
if you could, you would like them better ! "

So lived the fathers of our fathers and mothers of our mothers,
— contented with their lot, performing their duties wTith cheer-
fulness, realizing that to be happy is the object of life, and that
health, competence, and children to be reared, were the most
efficient instruments toward its attainment. They did not con-
stantly inquire if " farming paid " ; that is, if they were laying
up as much money as the merchants and manufacturers around
them ; but their inquiries were directed to the more essential

HOW FARMING PAYS. 45

points, whether the old homestead was yielding a comfortable
maintenance for the family under its roof, if the boys and girls
were doing their duty in " choring " in the winter and going
to school when the opportunity offered. As most of them
would swarm and go off when the proper time arrived, the
solicitude of the parents was, that their bodies should be
healthy, their morals correct, aud their minds sufficiently cul-
tivated to enable them to act their parts well in life and do
credit to their bringing up ; and the patriots and great men of
the preceding generation attest how well these influences
worked. Washington loved his farm next to his family ; his
best general and most intimate friend, Greene, of Rhode
Island, was a country blacksmith, and only laid down the
hammer for the sword. Putnam, who so distinguished him-
self at Bunker Hill, and was one of the four major-generals
of the army, was ploughing in his field at Pomfret, Connec-
ticut, when the news arrived of the battle of Lexington, and
leaving his plough on the field, hurried to the scene of action.
The battle of Lexington was fought on the 19th of April,
1775, and news of it reached Berkshire, not by telegraph
nor railroad, nor by mail, but by expresses, probably at noon.
At sunrise the next morning, Col. John Patterson, of Lenox,
with his regiment completely equipped and uniformed, was on
the march to Boston. Fired by the same spirit, the regiment
commanded by Col. John Fellows, of Sheffield, with equal
promptitude and appointment, proceeded to Roxbury. Many
of these brave men remained in the service to the close of the
war ; nor did the yeomanry of Berkshire, then nor since, in
any emergency, falter in their duty to their country in the time
of her needs. Farming paid pretty well in those days when,
just after the close of the French war and only fifty years
after its first settlement, Berkshire was able to send to the
seat of war regiments composed mainly of the sturdy sons of
the soil.

General Stark, whose defeat of the British at Bennington,
where he told his men they must beat the enemy or "Molly
Stark would be a widow that night," prepared the way for the
capture of Burgoyne and his army, was in early life a laborer
on a farm. In the night before this battle, a minister —
believed to have been Rev. Dr. Allen, of Pittsfield — who

46 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

came with a portion of his flock from Berkshire, came to
Stark with this communicatien : "We, the people of Berk-
shire, have beeu frequently called upon to fight, but have
never been led against the enemy. We have now resolved,
if you will not let us fight, never to turn out again." Stark
looked at him for a moment, in some doubt whether this was
a piece of border fuu or not, then said : "You do not care to
go out now, when it is dark and rainy, do you?" "No, not
particular." "Well, then," said Stark, "if the Lord should
once more give us sunshine, and I do not give you fighting
enough, I will never ask you to come again." And he was as
good as his word. General Stark sent to the Assembly of
Massachusetts, as trophies of this battle, a Hessian gun and
bayonet, broadsword and brass-barreled drum, with a grena-
dier's cap, which are still to be seen on the walls of our Senate
Chamber, opposite the President's chair.

Webster and a majority of the other great men of the past
age were the sons of farmers, and poor farmers, in a money
sense, at that ; and in raising such men, and the women who
have equalled them, — in sending them, equipped with health,
sense and good morals, into the councils of the nation, in the
camp to defend the country, into the wilds to open up the
wilderness and make it blossom as the rose, into the West to
develop its resources, — farming has paid, and the whole
country acknowledges its indebtedness to it. No chapters in
the volumes of our country's history better repay perusal
than those which show how the farmers of Massachusetts and
Connecticut recruited the armies of Congress during our
revolutionary war ; how they supplied those armies with pro-
visions without charge, and with what equanimity the husband-
men of those States and New Jersey bore the raids of the
British and Hessians, who despoiled them of their goods,
burnt their houses, and often murdered or carried into cap-
tivity the husbands and sons. The blood of the sires stirred
again in the veins of the descendants during the recent rebel-
lion, and the yeomen of New England, and their kindred at
the West, attested with their lives their belief in the principles
and traditions of their ancestors ; and again the virtues of our
self-sacrificing and industrious forefathers have brought our
country through another struggle for existence. It is only

HOW FARMING PAYS. 47

within a very recent period that the ciy has gone up from
every quarter, "Does it pay?" Our senators and represen-
tatives to Congress of the last generation gloried in being
respectably poor, and expected to return to their homes uo
richer than they went away. The richest men were not then
selected, as intellect and honesty were valued before wealth;
and it is related that, as the members of the New Hampshire
legislature assembled in the State House some years ago, before
the session commenced, an aged farmer, who proved to be a
man of good seuse, appeared among them very poorly clad.
He was told that that room was for members of the legislature.
He replied that he was a member elect from such a town, and
added, "There are men in our town better qualified for the
work of legislation than I am, but they had not clothes fit to
wear here." We send a good many representatives now-a-
days to Congress and " general court," who wear good clothes
enough, but have a failing in heart and head like the horse
and man in the following anecdote : A would-be wag over-
taking an old minister whose nag was much fatigued, quizzed
him thus: "A nice horse yours, Doctor — very valuable
beast that you are riding, but what makes him wag his tail
so ? " " The same that causes your tongue to wag so — a sort
of natural weakness ," was the old gentleman's reply. During
the long session of our legislature, last winter and spring, a
man from the country was talking with a citizen of Boston,
near the State House, when he asked him, "Is that a gas-
house?" " Yes," was the reply, "it is the state gas-house ! "
And these fellows with the good clothes and " natural weak-
nesses" manufacture the most of the gas.

The question as to farming paying is mostly of comparison.
It will not do to compare our condition with the wealthy mer-
chants and manufacturers, but with the mass of laboring peo-
ple who are earning a living in factories, shops, cities and
uncongenial places, with more expenditure of muscle, less
present comforts, more precarious future, than falls to the lot
of the farmer. When you come to talk about being rich, you
will find as much dissatisfaction among those whom we should
consider well off, as among the poorer clases. "A man is as
well off, " said Astor, " who is only worth a million of dollars,
as he would be if he were rich." And one of the stories told

48 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

of Rothschild, the Jewish banker, is, that when he read that
the income of Louis Philippe, the then king of France, was
only fifty dollars a minute, his eyes filled with tears, for he
was not aware of the existence of such destitution !

We are very apt to think, with some envious bitterness, of
men rolling in wealth, and do not stop to consider that these
men are in a small minority, not only compared with the
whole population, but even compared with the number engaged
iu business of the same kind. Just look around now, and
see how in every city there are hosts of business men who
are in trouble and anxiety, whether they may not lose all they
have accumulated by long years of work. Thousands of
artificers, mechanics and laboring men iu the trades, who are
men free-handed, and live only from hand to mouth, thrown
out of employment and depending for their bread for them-
selves and families upon the dole of the unions or public
charity.

The possession of all imaginable comforts, is no reason why
a man should quietly submit to even a slight discomfort, if
the cause can be removed ; but it will be very foolish to allow
any discomfort, however great, to make him forget the advan-
tages he enjoys. " God," said a college preacher to the grad-
uating class, "means very few of us to do anything in partic-
ular, " and, therefore we are at liberty to look about and
better our conditions as we can. But it was the evident
intention of the wise Creator that the country should support
the cities, and that there should always be a race of men
called farmers, who should live in the country and raise the
necessary crops. A goo 1 many of us, therefore, have to get
our living in the country, and dig out a living for other people
from the soil. Dissatisfaction, and longing for some other
business, are not always proof of our capacity to succeed in
any other than the one we are in. If you inquire into the
wrecks stranded all along the shore of our cities and towns,
you will find a large percentage are farmers' sons who have
left the farm to embark in a business with which they were
unacquainted, and have come to grief. The men that fail in
business, whether merchandise or agriculture, or anything else,
are generally those who have had no proper education for the
calling they engage in, — no real love for it, — carry it on

HOW FAKMING PAYS. 49

in a perfunctory manner, and have failed to do their duty as
men and citizens.

That was not the method of our f ithers, — they looked upon
their profession with pride and pleasure, considered agricult-
ure an art to be associated with and assisted by intelligent
inquiry, — made the best of parents and citizens, and found,
between the well-systematized labors of their life, intervals
of leisure for general reading and improvement, and in that
way made farming pay .

An Hibernian minister once alluded to death as an excel-
lent institution, — an institution but for which the world would
soon get so over-peopled that millions would die of starva-
tion ! Farming is of equal autiquity aud of superior excel-
lence, in our estimation, as it supports the millions, and if
practised as it should be, will allow no one to die for want of
subsistence. The farmers comprise a very large majority of
the population of this country, — their suffrages decide the
character of our rulers, — their arms defeat foreign foes and
establish the blessings of a permanent government. And
the young men who are turning their eyes away from the
cherished associations of their lives, had better think twice
before turning their back upon the old homestead, their birth-
spot, and the family altar, and consider whether, taking all
things into consideration, any other business will, in the long
run, pay better than intelligent farming.
7*

50 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

THE COMING FAEMEE.

From an Address before the Norfolk Agricultural Society.

BY JOHN QUINCT ADAMS.

I wish you to assume with me that we have a farmer who
makes farming his business, and who, having a certain capital
to invest, selects land within ten miles of the city hall, to
farm, with a view solely to get from the land and his capital
and labor the usual return earned by an equal capital and like
industry in other investments in this vicinity. How can he
manage it? What new elements have made this problem a
substantially new one since this society was founded ?

Twenty-five years ago, Boston, as many of us, gentlemen,
can very well remember, was a thriving little city, lying snug
in a small and compact territory, and surrounded, on the side
of Norfolk, at least, by tracts of sparsely-inhabited land, which
were in great part occupied by regular old-fashioned farms.
Even Roxbury in those days might almost have been called
an agricultural region. For ten years later the larger part of
Dorchester was actually farming land. Within ten years
West Roxbury rejoiced in one hundred and eight (108)
farms, which embraced seven thousand acres of her charming
territory. These places, to be sure, are now the city ; but it
is not that alone which has cooled their agricultural ardor.
They ceased to be agricultural not so much because they
were devoured, as because they were transfigured. Of course,
I speak generally. Market-gardening, floriculture, horticult-
ure, and some milk-farming, doubtless, still survive, and pos-
sibly a general farm or two in some remoter district ; but I
fancy that farming as a profitable pursuit is pretty well
finished in most of that region. So it is, I suppose, in our

THE COMING FAEMER. 51

faithful Brookline, which still holds fast to her old county
frieuds ; for a multitude of people, whose business confined
them from morning till night in the city, found it both pleasant
and economical to have homes in the country. They worked
all day in the noise of Boston streets, but they were glad at
night to seek the quiet of the neighboring villages. They over-
ran all the region round about. Beyond our county they spread
over Brighton, Cambridge, Charlestown, and indeed a great
part of this ten-mile metropolitan circuit. From about
200,000, in 1850, the population of Boston and these places
has swelled, in 1870, to more than 400,000 souls, and is
still growing faster than ever. An inevitable consequence of
this rapid influx of people was an enormous demand for home-
steads. The prices of convenient house-lots rose with a rush.
Suburban farms, which in 1850 were dear at one hun-
dred dollars an acre, in 1870 were cheap at a thousand. The
fortunes of the lucky farmers were made, — provided they
ceased to form. Their ancient means of livelihood had be-
come an expensive amusement. Their crops did not pay the
taxes, and the more produce a man raised the poorer he
became.

So, too, wherever a channel was opened for the easy flow
of this flood of surplus citizens to more remote and less ex-
pensive seats, the same process was repeated, and the same
phenomena were seen. Instances are familiar to all of you,
and are manifest in most of the towns around us. Look, for
instance, at Hyde Park, yonder ; why, when I was a young
man, which I assure you was but a very few years ago, and
first began to drive over the road to court at Dedham, all that
territory was a wide stretch of pleasant farming land, sup-
porting a good many old apple-trees, and affording pasture to
some cows and horses for a few excellent people. Now I
drive through a smart little city, which seems to me to double
its people once a year at least ; but the cows are gone. And
as to our old associate, Dorchester, since her annexation, a
careful observation would seem to indicate that the crop which
flourishes best upon her city soil is a post holding a board,
upon which is inscribed, "This land for sale in house-lots;
apply to John Brown, State Street." But I surely need not
dwell upon a fact so patent, as that it has generally proved

52 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

more profitable to sell your farm thau to work it in a " bed-
room town." Indeed, how can the man who pays city rates
of taxation upon almost a city valuation of his barren hill-
side, compete with him whose best arable land pays a tax not
exceediug one dollar to the acre ? How can you pasture your
cows upon land valued and taxed by the foot? What general
crop so profitable as a dwelling-house? Indeed, we may
almost state it as an axiom, that when land comes to be sold
off the principal streets of a village by the foot, the day of
general farming is done in that vicinity. In a word, then,
the land in a considerable part of Norfolk County has become
so much more valuable for cutting into small homesteads than
for use in the broad fields and wide ranges, required for what
I call, for want of a better name, the old, general, ample-
skirted farming, that no one, solely as matter of gain, cares
to undertake it.

The old familiar, homely ways, familiar to our boyish rec-
ollections, may, to be sure, linger here and there in some se-
cluded or favorable nooks, for farming is a good conservative
pursuit ; but we of the metropolitan circle, if I may be per-
mitted the term, must soon go further afield to refresh the
rustic reminiscences of those pleasant summers when we were
young. For in the old-fashioned methods there seemed, at
least, to dwell something of sweetness and poetry which
lends a certain touch of sentiment even to grave agricultural
addresses.

You are all familiar with the picture, — its golden lights, —
its cool, gray shadows, — its mellow, tender tones. You see
the old brown farm-house, overshadowed by the giant elms in
the door-yard ; you catch a delicious glimpse of the cool,
shady orchard behind it, — there yonder is the great barn,
with its red doors, its dusty, cob-webbed beams, and deep
haymows, and the swallows flittering and twittering back and
forth. There, too, is the rocky hill-side pasture, with its
patches of short velvet turf, and the calm, contented cows
winking and chewing lazily in the shade, or dozing peacefully
as they stand mid-leg deep in the brook, taking their noon-
tide rest. How familiar it is to us all, and how pleasant ;
but it is not business. The fact is, that the poetry and the
charms, the fascinations and the loveliness, are becoming too

THE COMING FARMER. 53

expensive around us here for any but wealthy men to in-
dulge in.

Frankly turning our back, then, upon our old familiar
friend, the farmer of the past, let us turn to greet the coming
man for our purpose, — the farmer of the future.

For certainly this vast city population at our doors, if it
occupies the land, creates, too, an enormous daily demand for
certain products of the land. If the ground is enhanced in
value, so are the vegetables which grow on it sold to more
advantage. To be sure, the far greater part of the agricult-
ural produce consumed in the city can be supplied more
cheaply from a distance. But experience seems to show that
there are some necessary luxuries, if you will pardon the
phrase, which are so much more prized fresh from the farm-
wagon than from the car, that they can bear the tax incident
to growing within an easy drive of the city. Take the pro-
fessional florist, for one case. The market-gardeners, es-
pecially the hot-bed gardeners, are another. Both of them
seem to derive a sufficient advantage from being- within
wagon-reach of the markets, to enable them to compete with
the rail-borne article. Many early vegetables, for instance,
are almost as rapidly spoiled by handling and keeping as
most fish are. Like oysters, they are best eaten alive. One
wants to stretch out one's hands, as it were, and pluck them
crisp and tender from the earth. But this nearness means
dear land, high taxes, and a big fixed capital to pay a profit
on. And the only way to meet the difficulty is to use but
little land. We must raise the largest possible crop on the
smallest possible space. For this only one thing is absolutely
necessary, — a cheap and plentiful supply of stimulating dress-
ing. Where shall we get it? Why, out of Boston harbor,
to be sure. Are we not yearly throwing half a million dol-
lars' worth of the very thing our market-gardeners most need
into its bosom? The ocean, which stretches frequent arms
through this dense population, occupying the space swept by
a radius of ten miles from the state house, is made a nuisance
and dangerous sewer by the foul and wasteful uses to which it
is subjected in this regard. But the difficulty of thus dispos-
ing of the sewage of the multitude destined to dwell in all

54 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

this basin, is fast making imperative some more sensible and
systematic plan.

Not much longer will a cleanly and a thrifty people suffer
what Dr. Bowditch most justly terms, " such wide-spread
recklessness of spendthrift prodigality as this throwing away
of such vast amounts of excellent manure is." Then this
wonderfully effective servant will be enlisted in the service of
the market-gardeners, and the whole "garden sauce" of the
city will be manufactured, as it were, on the cheapest possible
terms from the refuse which is now thrown away as an un-
manageable nuisance. Then consider another important prod-
uct— milk. The farmer of the future, hereabouts, will be
forced to regard similar circumstances if he hopes to live by
the milk business. To be sure, his market will be handy, and
his customers many ; but where can he pasture his cows? On
land which is assessed at one thousand dollars per acre, and
taxed fifteen or twenty dollars a year? I should like to see
him compete with railroad milk upon those terms. No, — he
must feed scientifically. Just reversing the system to which
he has been accustomed, he must keep his cows in the barn
all summer; cut and eat his grass crop before it is ripe, and
buy every pound of hay he feeds in winter. His most telling
economy will be retrenchment of land, and his most essential
saving a reduction of rent. The cost of his hay-fields would
render it far less costly to buy than to make his hay.

For the same reason, he will forbear to breed his own stock.
The wide ranges and breezy pasture of a stock-farm would
make his own cows too expensive for profit. As fast as cows
cease to average eight or nine quarts per day yearly, they
must be fatted and sold, to be replaced by fresh ones. But,
as I have tried to recall the traditional farm of the past, let
me also endeavor to sketch the impending farm of our future.

And first of all, you must assume with me that our farmer
has obtained a compact tract of land, of about fifty or sixty
acres of good, plain, arable land, within ten miles, by the
highway, from city hall ; that neither fences, hedges,
ditches nor trees interrupt the free course of the plough from
one bounding-wall to the other. It is within easy reach of a
railroad, by means of a short track on one side, and has for
a neighbor on the other, a brewery, cheaply accessible by a

THE COMING FARMER. 55

convenient tramway. Then our "enterprising proprietor,"
as the newspapers will call him, goes about building.

At the most easily accessible spot near the front and centre
of his lot he erects a plain brick factory, four or five stories
in height, and covering an area sufficient to accommodate
easily about two hundred cows and twenty horses upon a
single floor. With this building there will connect on the
one hand a boiler-house and engine-room ; upon the other,
refrigerating-room, can-rooms, wagon-shed, a counting-house,
and all the paraphernalia necessary for the handling and
delivery of milk. Close by a second brick house of less size
will serve for a dwelling for the owner or manager and his
foreman, and as a boarding-house for his drivers, clerk and
regular farm-hands. The space around the barn not required
for these buildings will be divided into large yards, provided
with sheds and other suitable shelter from sun or storm, and
strewn with litter, where the stock may take their daily con-
stitutional promenade in all weathers. But let us walk into
the big barn and look at our friend's cows. They will stand
one story, or say half a story, from the ground. Beneath
them a well-lighted, dry hall, half basement and half cellar,
will be carefully prepared for the reception, preservation and
preparation of the mainspring of our machine — manure. We
find the two hundred cows, arranged in rows facing each other,
with tramways or rails for fodder-cars in front of them.
Flowing water of the purest and freshest is carried within
their reach, and spouts and sacks from above lead down to
each feed-trough. But it is time to go up stairs. There
we find great vats for steaming all the hay after it has been
chopped fine by the machines overhead, large troughs for
mixing the steamed hay with meal or shorts from vast bins,
in which they are stored, and monstrous receptacles for the
chopped turnips, beets, cabbages, etc., into which they
tumble from the busy machines above. If we mount up
stairs further, we shall find the chopping-machines already
referred to in full activity, driven by shafting turned by the
engine below. The space not required for their use, and the
lots above, are devoted to the storage of hay and roots. All
the hoisting, pumping, steaming and moving of food is done
by the engine. A side-track from the railroad delivers all

56 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

straw, bay, grain or meal beneath the steam-crane. The
most perfect ventilation is secured by a fan driven by the
same power. In a word, every appliance which ingenuity
can suggest, and everv device which skill can invent for the
saving of labor and economy of force, will be impressed into
the service. Neither will any pains be spared to insure the
health and happiness of the "milky mothers." It is true, that
to pasture they will never again return ; but then they will
be assiduously served at their stalls with all the most varied,
succulent and nourishing food " which the market affords " or
the season will supply. From the first moment that the
returning sun can coax out the earliest oats or rye from the rich
hollow of the sunniest southern slope, until the savage frost
cuts down even the hardiest cabbage, they will be feasted
upon the most tender and delicious fresh vegetables. The
best of the grain, and grasses juicy and green, turnips, beets,
potatoes, and I know not what other kinds of luxurious living,
will be theirs.

But you ask, Where is all this green stuff to come from?
Surely, not from the little plot of fifty acres, which is left us
to farm? True, it is small ; but remember that every foot is
available, clear, clean land in the very highest profitable con-
dition. Our supply of manure will be magnificent ; and I
need not tell you formers that manure can work miracles.
But if you still doubt, although I do not dare now to detail
the precise rotation of crops, and close, sharp handling by
which it may be effected, yet I can confidently refer you to
the authorities on soiling of. cattle, for verification. Then,
even if you find I have overstated it, at least you will be sure
to derive great benefit from your studies.

But, after all, it is of very little consequence to my present
purpose, whether I am accurately exact as to my details. At
all events, you are convinced that my farmer must be a very
shrewd and energetic and skilful man, and you must be sat-
isfied that he will require all his capacity, industry and skill
to manage his business successfully. What with his corn to
buy in Illinois ; his grain in Iowa ; his hay in Maine ; his
cows in New Hampshire and Vermont ; and his straw and
the hundred other supplies in constant use to be bought each
in the best market, — his mercantile faculty must be good ; and

THE COMING FARMER. 57

"with the supervision of his stock and business, he will fiucl
the longest day too short for his labors.

And so you see, my friends, the old brown house and the
poetic barn, the sunny pasture and the shady brook, haying
and harvest, all have disappeared, swallowed up by the insati-
able and relentless maw of progress. And as the whirling
spinning-wheel of the cottage has been turned into the lum-
bering mule of the factory, so the picturesque farm of im-
memorial literature aud art is transformed into a milk-mill.

And now, I need hardly remind you, that I intend this crude
and hasty sketch merely as a suggestion. Is the narrow view
I have taken capable of a wider range ? Is it not desirable
to call to our aid the close calculation of small economies and
exact application of the most approved means to ends which
characterize the plans of successful manufacturers ? Would
it not pay us here near Boston to abandon the old, wide-
spread system of half cultivating a territory, and turn to the
careful high tillage of a field?

I am not ignorant that many of our keen Yankee farmers
have long ago found this out. They have almost instinctively
turned to take the only way out of the dilemma into which
all general farming in New England was thrown, when
millions of acres of such land, as many of you never dreamed
of, were thrown open to the plough at the West, and moved,
as it were, within competing distance by the railroads. It is
a matter of common fame, that four hundred thousand acres
of the improved land, in farms in our State, twenty-five years
ago, are now run wild. A handsome principality has been
laid waste, during the lifetime of our society in this Common-
wealth, aud it was well and wisely done. If another like it
could be turned out of cultivation, and the labor wasted upon
its slovenly neglect applied to an increased care and culture of
more fertile or more favored sites, I believe it would be whole-
some for our wallets and strengthening: to our agriculture.

© © o

8*

58 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

FARM IMPROVEMENTS.

ESSEX.

From the Report of the Committee on Wet Meadow and
Swamp Lands.

The Committee on " Improving Wet Meadow and Swamp
Lands" met at the farm of S. B. Bodwell, North Andover,
September 21, to view a piece of reclaimed swamp land,
offered by him for premium. This piece, of two acres, was
covered five years ago with a thick growth of alders and
underbrush, and upon part of it the water stood throughout
the whole of every year. It was of little value, not over
$30 an acre, and yielded no income.

In the spring of 1869, as Mr. Bodwell states, he mowed,
cut and burned the bushes, put in one main ditch, and broke
up with four yoke of oxen.

In 1870, he harrowed four or five times in course of the
summer, and fall-ploughed with two yoke of oxen, took up
stones and stumps, and put in remainder of drains.

In 1871, he ploughed and harrowed and planted potatoes
and cabbages, manured in the hills. The crop paid expenses
of the year's work. In the fall he ploughed and sowed with
timothy and redtop.

In 1872, he cut three tons of hay to the acre, in two cut-
tings. In the fall he top-dressed with four cords of stable-
manure to the acre.

In 1873, he sowed red clover in the spring, and cut fully
three tons of hay per acre, mostly herdsgrass, for first crop,
and one ton per acre for second crop.

In 1874, he cut three tons of hay per acre for first crop.
At the time of the Committee's visit, about half an acre had
been cut the second time, from which twenty good-sized cocks
of hay had been put in. On the balance of the piece the

. $134

75

. 128

50

8

.00

, 94

00

, 32

00

. 30

00

FARM IMPROVEMENTS. 59

second crop was standing, which the Committee saw, and
which has since proved to be fully one and a half tons of hay
per acre.

In 1868, Mr. Bodwell could keep but one horse all the time,
and another about half the time. Last year he kept three
cows, two horses all and one horse half the time, and sold
four tons of hay ; the increased product being largely from
this reclaimed piece of land.

The cost of the improvement has been, —

In 1869, for labor and use of oxen,
1870, " " " .

1871 (labor paid by crop), for grass-seed,

1872, for manure $64, for labor in harvesting

1873, for clover-seed $2, " " "

1874, for labor in harvesting, .

$427 25

The return has been twenty-three tons of hay in the barn,
at $25 per ton — $575. Thus the improvement has consider-
ably more than paid for itself, without reckoning the differ-
ence in the value of the land, which before draining gave
nothing, and for the last three years has yielded an average
of nearly eight tons of hay a year.

The Committee have carefully examined the details of cost
in the above statement, and are satisfied with its correctness.
Those who had seen the out-turn of hay testified that the yield
had not been overstated.

They give Mr. Bodwell credit for a good deal of pluck in
attacking as hard a piece of land of the kind as could prob-
ably be found in the county, and for energy and good man-
agement in persevering until the work was done ; and looking
at the example and the result, they are unanimously of the
opinion that he is entitled to the first premium of $15.

They commend the experiment to the notice of the owners
of the large quantities of wet meadow and swamp land in
the county, believing that, when reclaimed, under fair condi-
tions and good management, the result never has failed, and
never will fail, to be very profitable.

Henry SaltonstalLj/o?* the Committee.

60 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

HAMPDEN.

Statement of William Mattoon.

Sand-Plain. — I send you a statement of the management
of 4| acres of old, worn-out, sand-plain land, which I offer for*a
premium.

I bought the land in the spring of 1871, with some 15
acres more of the same kind. The last crop, before I pur-
chased it, was rye, and the owners did not harvest any por-
tion of the crop, upon this part of the field, and the other
part I do not think yielded to exceed five bushels to the acre.
In the fall of 1872, I ploughed the land as near ten inches
deep as I could by measurement with a rule, upon the land
side, and the next winter I hauled 150 loads of brick clay, of
42 feet to the load, and 521 cords to the acre. The clay lay
in piles through the winter ; and the next summer, when it
was in a condition to crumble up fine, I spread it with a two-
horse team and common road-scraper, and finished up by
using a long levelling scraper, so that it was very uniform,
without using any hand-labor. I then rolled the ground very
thoroughly with a large, heavy roller; then harrowed with a
Shares' harrow ; then rolled again ; then harrowed with a fine
harrow ; then bushed it thoroughly with a large heavy bush.
I had it now fine and mixed with the original soil (if it be
called soil) to the depth of three to four inches. That fall I
hauled on, of manure made from cattle, horses and hogs, six
cords to the acre, and ploughed it in in the fall. In the spring
of 1874, I hauled on one cord of the meat to the acre, which
came from a bone-boiling establishment, and I calculated the
dry weight at 1,600 pounds per cord. I then ploughed the land
seven inches deep, and put on three cords of the same kind of
manure, which was made during the winter. It was hauled
out as it accumulated, and forked over thoroughly, about three
weeks before using, and was fine when used. Spread the
manure from carts, then harrowed, rolled, harrowed again,
bushed. Then ridged with a tobacco-ridger. Set the land in
tobacco about the 25th of June, and had one of the best
crops in the country. In 1872, I had 5 acres of tobacco

FARM IMPROVEMENTS.

61

adjoining this piece, which was treated in the same manner,
and the yield was 2,082 pounds per acre, and of fine quality
and color. In 1873, 1 had 10^ acres of tobacco, adding 5^ acres
to former piece, treated in the same manner, and the average
yield was 2,160 pounds. This year I added to the tobacco-field
the piece of 4^ acres, and the whole crop was very even,
good growth and fine quality. Mr. E. Albro, who raised the
tobacco upon shares, in 1873, and also this year, thinks the
1874 crop will not be less than 5 per cent, better than last
year. The clay I hauled an average distance of 73 rods.

EXPENSES.

Ploughing land in fall of 1871, per acre, .

To 52| cords clay, per acre, teams, men and tools,
$1.28 per cord, ....
spreading, man and team, to the acre,
rolling with large roller, .
harrowing with Shares' harrow, per acre,
rolling, at the rate of 200 acres per day,
harrowing with fine harrow,
bushing, at the rate of 2 acres per day,

Whole expense of clay and preparing the land for
the crop, .....

$3 00

67

20

4

00

2

00

2

00

2

00

2

00

2

00

$84 20

The lands which I have prepared in this way are retentive
of moisture, and produce as heavy crops as any land upon a
river-bottom.

William Mattoon.

Statement of B. B. Loomis.
Pastures. — This piece of three acres of bush pasture-land,
three years ago last spring, was a stony, rocky bush-pasture ;
the brush, white birch, alders, ivy, white bush, laurel, soft
maple sprouts, white and yellow pines, and finally, all sorts of
brush growing upon it — a complete thick mat of brush, and so
thick that I could generally not find my cattle without looking
some time for them. I put the fence back, so as to have the
piece inclosed with my meadow-lot, and commenced in June,
with two heavy pairs of oxen and with left-hand or side-hill
plough with coulter. It being on a side-hill, it took myself and

62 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

man, with two pairs of cattle, some seven days to break
it up. Then I left it for some two months. I then
put on the same cattle, with Estes' patent revolving
harrow, and harrowed upon it some two days. The
roots, turfs, bogs and stumps would hang together from
two to eight or ten feet long, but I kept on harrowing until I
tore them all in pieces. I left it until the next summer. I
then ploughed it again in August, with one pair of cattle and
one man ; it took some' four days. I then harrowed it with the
same harrow, some two days, with one pair of cattle and man.
I then cross-ploughed with common plough, one man and
one pair of cattle, three days. I then sowed on three bushels
of rye and harrowed in, one and a half days. This season I
obtained 40 bushels of rye and two tons of straw. I have
sown it to rye again this fall, and stocked it with timothy for
mowing. I consider it now as good land as I have. I did
not value the land much before I commenced to break it up,
and I certainly valued it much less very soon after I com-
menced to plough it. A man to hold the plough would want a
cast-steel nerve and a Jackson's will, but now I have three
acres more ©f available land added to my farm.

ESTIMATE OF COST OF FITTING LAND, ETC., TO OBTAIN FIRST

CROP.

Say 2 men, 7 days at breaking up, $1.50 per day

each, ....

Two pairs cattle, 7 days, at $3,
Repairs of ploughs and chain,
Harrowing, 2 days, with two pairs

man, ....

Next, one man and one pair cattle, 4 days to plough,
Next, one man and one pair cattle to harrow, 2 days,
Cross-ploughing, one man and one pair cattle, 3 days,
Sowing 3 bushels rye, ......

Three bushels of rye-, ......

One man and one pair cattle to harrow in seed, 1^

days,

Time spent at getting roots and stone, worth some

Cost of fitting land, $99 00

s cattle and one

$21 00

21

00

3

00

9

00

12

00

6

00

9

00

50

3

00

4

50

10

00

FARM IMPROVEMENTS.

63

Credit by 40 bushels of rye at
" " 2 tons of straw,

Value of first crop, ....

At my estimate of the value of land, the improve
ments are worth at least $75 per acre
Three acres at

Total gain,
Expenses,

Net gain

B. B

$40 00
40 00

$80 00

225 00

$305 00
99 00

$206 00
Loomis.

PLYMOUTH.

From the Report of the Supervisor.

Reclaimed Meadows. — Galen Latham, of East Bridge-
water, says in his statement : "The piece of meadow which I
offer for premium, containing two and one-half acres, was
formerly in an almost worthless condition, producing mainly
bushes and bulrushes. In the fall of 1871, I opened a ditch
on three sides of it, dividing it into seven beds by cross-
ditches. These ditches were dug about eighteen inches deep,
to the hard-pan or sub-soil, removing the peat to my high
lands, where I considered it of sufficient value to pay the
expense of ditching. During the winter I covered four of
the beds with gravel two or three inches deep. In March, I
seeded the whole to blue-grass, herdsgrass, and redtop,
previously spreading a light dressing of manure upon a por-
tion of it, and Peruvian guano on the balance, which was
harrowed in with the seed. The seed took well and pro-
duced a fair crop of hay of good quality the same season.
In the fall of 1872, the portion not gravelled was top-dressed
with yellow loam, and manured with a compost of similiar
loam and manure. In 1873, the crop was considerably larger
than in the previous year. During the present year I have
taken two crops from it. The meadow is very much improved
in appearance, and is now in a condition to be mowed and

64 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

raked by machines, instead of being, as it previously was,
miry and uneven.

" Expenses : ploughing and harrowing, $20 ; gravelling,
$100; manure harrowed in, $25; seed and sowing, $8.50;
top-dressing, $20 ; draining through adjoining land, $15.
Total, $188.50.

"Receipts in 1872 : 3 tous of hay, at $14, $42 ; in 1873, 3£
tons, $49 ; in 1874, 4 tons, $56. Total, $147.

"Having thus given the result of my experience in removing
high land upon low, a brief statement in respect to what I
have done in an opposite direction may not be wholly without
interest. My farm is composed largely of high land, with a
thin, gravelly soil. Being, like most New England farmers,
deficient in the quantity of manure necessary for improving
my worn-out acres, I was led to the discovery that, in all the
bogs and pond-holes about my farm the means might be
found of supplying, in a great measure, the needed elements
of fertility. During the last fifteen years I have probably
applied 5,000 ox-cartloads of muck to some twenty-five acres
of upland. . I have generally carted it directly from the pit
or ditches to the laud where it was to be used, putting a load
in a place, to be spread and remain through the winter, sub-
ject to the action of the frost, which I consider an advantage.
In the spring it has been ploughed in, and the land usually
planted to corn and potatoes for two or three successive years
before seeding to grass. The result has been that, with a
little manure, good crops have followed, while the soil has
been rendered more easy of cultivation.

"In my apple-orchard, instead of ploughing and cultivating,
I have spread muck on the surface liberally, and, after it has
become dry, pulverized it by drawing a heavy bush over it.
This has kept the soil loose about the roots of the trees,
evidently giving them a more thrifty appearance, and causing
them to produce more and better fruit.

" It will be perceived that, by applying the muck directly
from the pit, instead of first composting it with other
materials, the expense has been comparitively small, and I
think I can say that, to me, it has proved a cheap fertilizer."

By Mr. Latham's experiment, one desirable result, at least,
has been secured. What was formerly an unsightly, worth-

FARM IMPROVEMENTS. 65

less bog, has been rendered, for the time being, attractive
and useful, giving an added cash value to the ancient home-
stead, and affording to its owners, as well as to the passers-
by, a decided improvement in the features of their somewhat
limited landscape. Every experiment of this nature may be
considered under two aspects : as a matter of taste, and as a
matter of profit and loss. In most farming communities,
mere matters of taste, or, in other words, considerations of
beauty, order or symmetry as sources of pleasurable emotion,
are made wholly subordinate to more familiar, and doubtless
more congenial, considerations relating to probable final bal-
ances in dollars and cents. The truth of this proposition will
become sufficiently apparent upon an inspection of the sur-
roundings of many a farmer's home. Fences awry, fence-
rails broken, wall-stones displaced, roadsides surrendered to
bushes and brambles, door-yards encumbered with useless
debris, fields disfigured with mullen and wild-carrot, water-
stagnating in adjacent pools ; — these, and such as these, are
sights almost too common to excite even a passing remark.
By merely proving, to one who permits them, that their
existence is offensive to good taste, nothing will be effected
towards their removal. But once convince him that su«--

o

gested improvements in any of these respects will put
money in his purse, and such improvements will be com-
menced forthwith, and completed without needless delay.

While this tendency to disregard all considerations, except
those of mere profit and loss, is so generally manifested by
farmers in planning and prosecuting their ordinary or extraor-
dinary agricultural operations, especial credit should be given
to such among them as manifest a determination to begin and
to complete the improvement of some of the waste places of
the earth, even at the risk of a possible deficiency in their re-
ceipts as compared with their expenditures. Whether or not
Mr. Latham shall finally realize any considerable profit from
the above described experiment, he will, doubtless, derive a
great deal of satisfaction from the investment, in its aesthetic
results, as well as from the conviction he seems to have reached,
that money may sometimes be wisely expended for other ends
than its own mere reproduction.

But the pecuniary aspects of experiments of this nature are,

9*

66 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

after all, most important, and most carefully to be considered
by a majority of farmers. It is perhaps too early, as yet, to
determine what ma}- be the final result in that of Mr. Latham.
By the account included in his statement, it would seem that
the grass already grown upon the lot is equal in value to about
seventy-eight per cent, of the expenditure upon it. But this
result is reached by the entire omission of any charge for the
very considerable expense incurred in ditching, an omission
based upon his belief that the cost of this part of the opera-
tion has been reimbursed in the improvement of his adjoining
upland by the application of the material taken from the
ditches. This view of the case will not receive the universal
assent of formers, many of whom are convinced, some of them
by hard-earned experience, that the principal, if not the only
benefit derived from the application of peat to uplands, is
through a possible mechanical loosening of the soil, for which
purpose it is, perhaps, equal in value to sawdust, spent tan,
bog-meadow hay, and other non-adhesive,- and equally non-
fertilizing substances. But the drift formation of the Old
Colony rarely needs special applications in this direction
beyond the judicious use of the plough, and other pulveriz-
ing implements, for which neither sawdust, tan nor peat can be
recommended as a reliable substitute.

These suggestions, as to the slight value of peat as a fertil-
izer, are intended to apply only to pure peat (that is, to a
deposit of decomposed vegetable matter unmixed with silt or
earthy substances, from the wash of uplands or from other
sources), applied in its natural and unmodified condition.
The possibilities of chemistry, in changing the nature of this
particular substance, are not now under consideration.
Whether a neutral salt of any value as a fertilizer can be
obtained by combining the acid in peat with any base, is a
question on which experts differ, as they do on most other
questions respecting which their opinions are required. It is
hardly probable that such a result can be secured at any com-
paratively reasonable cost. If this disparaging, and, agricult-
urally speaking, somewhat uncanonical estimate of the value
of peat, when applied to uplands, is correct, there can be
little inducement to grapple with it in its native bed, with
a view to making it a productive soil. It is true that, by

FARM IMPROVEMENTS. 67

expending money enough for drainage, by transporting
earth enough, and applying manure enough, a soil, tempo-
rarily productive, may be created upon a peat bog, but its
productiveness will be due almost wholly to the foreign sub-
stances added, and scarcely at all to the underlying peat.

Peat is found only in basins of greater or less depth, where,
during some former period, it accumulated until it reached
the level of the lowest depression in the rim of the basin, or
its outlet, when further accumulation ceased. In its natural
condition it is always saturated with water, and even when its
surface is supposed to be thoroughly drained, it seems to
exert a sort of capillary action, absorbing water from beneath
so readily that ditches at the usual distances, and of the
ordinary depth, will not prevent its being, at all times, more
or less water-soaked, and in a condition to produce only
coarse, seedless grasses, and other semi-aquatic plants which
are deficient in most of the elements of nutrition for animals,
and which, even after the most successful attempts to create
an artificial soil, are sure, within a very brief period, to
usurp the place of any of the more valuable forage grasses
that may have obtained a precarious hold upon a substance so
uncongenial to their growth.

There is probably no agricultural product, the selling price
of which bears so little relation to the actual nutritive value of
different parcels, as what is called " English hay." Hay made
wholly from grass grown upon rich warm uplands ; grass
which, cut when free from dew, will leave upon the scythe a
thick deposit of sap in the form of gum ; grass which, when
properly cured, will abound in bone, muscle and fat produc-
ing properties, and constitute what is known among farmers
(most buyers of hay are not farmers) as "hearty " hay ; such
hay, to a majority of buyers, is known only as English hay,
and will sell for the market price of English hay, and no
more. And hay from the coarse grasses and rushes indige-
nous to peat meadows, with a sufficient admixture of herds-
grass, or some other cultivated grass to give a decent facing
to a load when raked off; that which, Avhen handled, will
rustle like autumn leaves by the roadside, and of which an
animal might eat almost continuously without satiety, — that,
too, is known as English hay, and will sell for the market

68 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

price of English hay, and no less. It is scarcely an exag-
geration to say that the actual nourishing power of different
parcels of hay, sold in the market at a uniform price, may
vary as much as fifty per cent.

To the producers of hay for market, merely, who care noth-
ing for its quality except as its quality may affect its price,
the nature of the soil on which it is grown is of compara-
tively little consequence. But to such as intend to feed their
hay to stock upon their own farms, it is important to know
how far and under what circumstances it is good husbandry
to expend money in reclaiming swamps or undrained low-
lands. In most of the towns in Plymouth County, where
large areas of arable land lie already cleared, but uncultivated,
and where the supply of available farm labor is not abundant,
the reclaiming of peat swamps, especially such as are mainly
covered with bushes, can hardly be recommended. Land fit
for the plough can be bought and put into a condition to pro-
duce valuable forage grasses for much less than the cost of
reclaiming such swamps, even where permanently effectual
drainage can be secured without exorbitant outlays, which is
very seldom the case. Water is essential to perfection of
vegetable growth. When present in due season and quantity,
it is a blessing; out of season, or in excess, it is a curse.

But there is a wide difference in the improvable value of
swampy land. That which is unproductive merely because it
is saturated with water, especially spriug water, and which
but for such saturation, would become firm but friable loam,
presents the most favorable conditions for the expenditure of
capital in its improvement, with a reasonable certainty of
remunerative results. To render such land productive, the
essential preliminary operation is thorough drainage. Very
few farmers have any adequate conception of what consti-
tutes thorough drainage. To most of them, the term is
suggestive only of a few surface ditches, from twelve to
twenty inches deep, and irregularly located ; or, at best, of
occasional tile or stone drains, rods, perhaps, apart; the for-
mer continually obstructed by vegetable or earthy deposits, the
latter too widely separated, and too nearly level to effectually
remove the surplus water from soils which absorb it almost as
readily and retain it almost as tenaciously as a sponge.

FAEM IMPROVEMENTS. 69

The distance between drains, "whether open or covered,
must, of course, depend somewhat upon the nature of the
soil, and the fall which can be secured. If the vegetable
constituents of the soil are in excess of the mineral, the
number of drains should be proportionately increased ; while,
as the available descent of grade increases, the number may
be proportionately diminished. If any one in Plymouth
County has so effectually drained swamp land, composed
wholly or partially of peat, that, when kept in grass for a
few years, rushes and water-grasses have not stolen into and
occupied, partially, at least, the spaces between the ditches,
his experience might furnish a rule for the guidance of others
similarly situated. Being unable to call to mind any such
instance, I can only suggest that the old adage, "Whatever is
worth doing, is worth doing well, " is peculiarly applicable to
this class of agricultural operations, and that experience
shows there is little danger of draining water-soaked land
too thoroughly.

Large expenditures in carting mere sand or gravel upon
swamp land, for the purpose of converting it to English mea-
dow, are usually injudicious and unprofitable. If the natural
soil contains sufficient silex to render it solid when drained,
any addition is unnecessary ; if it does not, the needed supply
may be found in substances which have a value independent of
their hardening properties. Pure gravel will tend only to ster-
ility ; pure sand will induce a vigorous growth of rushes and
of nothing else. When some application of this kind is
deemed necessary or desirable, the surface soil of upland, too
porous to retain moisture, and, consequently, too dry to be
productive as it lies, mixed with an equal amount of the sub-
soil immediately beneath it, is probably the most appropriate
material for the purpose, the process being, virtually, that of
carrying the soil to the water where the water fails to come
to the soil. The bringing together of these two elements,
by artificial means and in the right proportion, is a costly
operation ; but when it is accomplished, the capacity for future
production will be limited only by the ability or willingness
of the owner to furnish plant-food in some of its numerous
forms.

Alden S. Bradford, Supervisor.

70 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

FRUIT.

BARNSTABLE.

From the Hejjort of the Committee.

Cultivation of the Peae. — Notwithstanding the great
amount of valuable information upon this subject which has
been given to the public within the past few years, we are
constantly meeting with those who seem to have but little
correct knowledge in relation to the selection of varieties
adapted to our Cape and for different soils, and for cultiva-
tion as standards or dwarfs.

The climate of our Cape seems peculiarly adapted to the
cultivation of most varieties of the pear. In setting a pear
orchard, as in the commencement of any other enterprise, it
is of the first importance to begin aright. If we could select
the soil, it would be a strong, gravelly loam ; still, many of
the most desirable varieties, like the Bartlett, Belle Lucra-
tive, Howell, Doyenne d'Ete and some others, will succeed in
almost any soil, with proper cultivation. Unless you have a
very strong, deep soil, and are determined to manure and
cultivate thoroughly, we should advise to set none but stand-
ard trees ; that is, trees grown upon pear-stocks. Dwarfs are
grown on quince-stocks. In selection of trees, purchase
none as standards but those budded or grafted on seedling
stocks ; not those that are sucker or root grafted, by any
means ; no nurseryman at the East will risk his business by
selling any others ; at the West, they have, in some instances,
a reputation for root-grafting pear-trees. Select well-grown
and thoroughly-ripened trees. No matter how luxuriant
may have been the growth in the nursery, provided the wood
was well ripened and you intend to do your whole duty by
them — the more thrifty the growth the better prepared to
withstand the shock of transplanting, and the greater the
recuperative power.

FRUIT. 71

Take your trees, if possible, direct from the nursery
where grown, not those re-rooted trees which are ofteii sold.
These last are generally an imposition on the inexperienced ;
trees that peddlers have left on their hands after the season
of peddling is past ; often withered from exposure to sun and
air ; set in nursery rows, where, with care, they manage to live,
and the next season, perhaps, are sold to the greeu ones as
re-rooted trees. Proper labels on them would read "warranted
to die after a short and struggling existence." Why ! It is a
great shock to transplant a tree the first time, under the most
favorable circumstances ; but the shock of transplanting the
second time, before the tree. has become firmly established, is
almost sure to send it to the bush-heap.

In the selection of varieties, do not purchase by catalogue
with highly-wrought descriptions by nurserymen ; if you do,
you will be disappointed in some varieties, and after waiting
for years, hoping to get good specimens of the fruit, will be
obliged to do as we have done and are doing — regraft with
varieties that will produce perfect fruit.

Of varieties for general cultivation in all soils, we should
recommend as first early, Doyenne d'Ete, ripening the last of
July and first of August. The tree is vigorous and hardy,
bears young and abundantly. The fruit is not liable to rot,
and has a flavor equally good with other varieties ripening at
the same time. Osband's Summer follows the last, in time of
ripening, and is, in our opinion, a most desirable fruit, succeed-
ing equally well as a dwarf. The fruit keeps remarkably well
for the season, and will ripen with beautiful color and good
flavor, even if picked' before fully grown, whether thrown
upon the ground under the trees or laid away in the fruit-
room. The tree makes a beautiful pyramid, but from our ex-
perience, is a little tardy in coming into bearing as a standard.
The Bartlett — ripening the last of August and first of Sep-
tember— is too well and generally known to need any descrip-
tion from us. Its large size and beautiful color recommend it,
even where its peculiar flavor is not admired. We conside
this one of the most tender varieties to transplant, and until
well established ; and have lost more trees of this kind than
all others combined. The Belle Lucrative follows the Bart-
lett ; is an early bearer, vigorous and productive ; succeeds

72 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

well as a dwarf; is one of the highest flavored pears known ;
ripens the last of September and first of October. The
Howell is very hardy and productive, ripening in October.
The Lawrence, ripening in November and December, is a
finely flavored pear ; not so rapid a grower as the varieties
mentioned.

These six varieties will give a succession of fruit from July
to December or January, with the exception of a short time
after Osband's Summer and before the ripening of the Bartlett.

If it is desired to extend the list, the Sheldon is a most
valuable, hardy and productive pear, ripening in October and
November.

With Stevens' Genesee we had the best success when
grafted on old trees. It hangs to the tree well, even under
the infliction of our Cape winds, is beautifully colored,
luscious and refreshing. Season, last of October and No-
vember. Young trees are tardy in coming into bearing.
The Buffum, hardy and very productive, should be thinned
when too heavily fruited to get good specimens. Fruit, not
of highest flavor or excellence. The Winter Nelis is one of
the best early winter pears. These last succeed in all soils
equally with the first six. The Flemish Beauty has been
largely disseminated on the Cape, is a fine growing pyramidal
tree, but in ripening its fruit, as a standard, has proved a
failure. We have had it in bearing for nearly twenty years,
but have not succeeded in getting one perfectly-ripened pear
in a hundred. The tree drops its foliage early, the fruit
cracking and, when at all perfect, liable to early and rapid
decay, and dropping long before mature. Iu conferring with
cultivators on the Cape, we find the experience of most coin-
cides with ours. Clapp's Favorite is a magnificent fruit when
well grown and ripened. The tree is thrifty and compara-
tively hardy, but from our experience with it (and we have
it since first disseminated) , the fruit is variable and liable to
rot before perfectly ripe.

For cultivation as dwarfs, in addition to Osband's Summer
and Belle Lucrative, we would recommend Louise Bonne do
Jersey, which makes one of the best dwarfs, and is a most
valuable variety, ripening in October. The Beurre d'Anjou,
a splendid fruit when raised on the quince, of largest size and

FRUIT. 73

very prolific ; and Vicar of Winkfield, which is a prodigious
bearer, and although not of the highest flavor, yet often very
fine and acceptable at the time of ripening — December and
January. If desired to cultivate mainly for market, the
Doyenne cl'Ete, Osband's Summer, Bartlett, Howell and
Stevens' Genesee, with Louise Bonne, Beurre d'Anjou and
Vicar, as dwarfs, would be the most desirable.

Do not set dwarfs unless your soil is a strong loam, or
clay-loam, retentive of moisture. Select trees budded close
to the ground, — say two inches above the roots ; set them so
that the point of junction of pear and quince is from two to
three inches below the level of the ground ; put your manure
— the strongest kind — on the surface, and work in with the
soil ; do not disturb the soil close around the tree to the
depth of more than an inch, and it will throw out roots from
the pear, which is of the first importance to retain the tree
firmly in the ground, and to sustain it if the quince-roots
fail.

Transplanting trees is not necessarily a difficult operation.
Its success consists in preserving as many roots as possible,
never allowing them to become dried. Spread the roots out
horizontally, as much as possible, setting the trees no deeper,
as a general rule, than they were before being transplanted,
excepting in the case of dwarfs, as before described. Pack
the earth firmly about the trees, leaving no cavities under or
about the roots, using no undecomposed manures, but apply
such to the surface after planting, and endeavor by mulching
or cultivation to preserve sufficient moisture in the new soil
to insure rapid root-making, always cutting back the top in
proportion as the roots have been cut, and in shape to form a
pyramidal tree. This trimming, with this object in view, as
also to form a low compact head, should be continued for a
series of years, until these objects are attained.

Most portions of our Cape have an abundance of what we
believe to be the best manures for pear and many other kinds
of fruit trees, — peat and salt-marsh mud. These, thoroughly
decomposed, and composted in nearly equal proportions,
make a valuable manure to incorporate with the soil when
setting trees, or can be used in a crude state as a dressing,
either separate or composted. When the salt mud can be
10*

74 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

obtained mixed with mussels or other shell-fish, it is still
more valuable.

We have obtained the very best results from covering the
whole surface of the ground, under and around the trees, with
the salt-marsh mud immediately when taken from the marshes,
being governed in the amount applied by the size of the trees,
and incorporating with the soil as occasion might permit ;
being a little particular not to place it against the trees, but
leaving a space of say a foot around it, when first applied.

Our own practice is to cultivate annually the whole surface
around our trees, ploughing shallow and planting with root-
crops or beans, when not too much shaded ; and the manure
for these crops, in liberal amount, we pile around the trunks
of the trees the first of December, after the first frosts have
set in, spreading the same over the surface before ploughing
in the spring ; and we succeed in getting about as good crops,
while the trees are small, as we could if the trees were not on
the ground, with, we are satisfied, no real injury to growth or
bearing of the trees. Ashes is an invaluable manure, espe-
cially for dwarfs. Lime is of value in most soils. It is our
own practice, when we do not apply salt-marsh mud, to sow
the ground about our pear, quince and peach trees with coarse
salt, about as thickly as you would seed with small grains,
just before ploughing in the spring.

It is the opinion of a few pomologists that some of the best
varieties of pears are deteriorating, and in proof of this we
are told that there are no such magnificent specimens of
Duchesse d'Angouleme, and a few other varieties, raised on
the Cape, as there were when first introduced. From this
we must dissent, and are assured that the seeming decay can
be traced to a lack of thorough, persistent cultivation. We
raise, and meet with in the gardens of others, just as fine
specimens of these fruits as in years past, but they are
obtained by high cultivation. It is true that there are a few
varieties that do not succeed with us, but which are fine in
other sections of the country ; as the Flemish Beauty, Beurre
Diel and St. Michael. The failure of these, we are satisfied,
is more attributable to climatic influences than to other causes ;
but these can be ameliorated by perfect tillage or entire
mulching of the ground. We think we never experienced a

VINEYAKDS. 75

season when so good results were obtained from these proc-
esses as the past, and our own experience is corroborated by
other cultivators with whom we have conversed. Where the
cultivation has been thorough the past season, the fruit has
gene rally been good, and the trees are vigorous ; while where
trees grew in sward or have had a lazy, slip-shod culture,
they are generally as bare of foliage at this time, first of Sep-
tember, as they should in be in December, and the fruit
small, gnarled and immature. We have a few trees of the
Belle Lucrative and Buffum varieties standing in sward that
it has not been convenient for us to break up for a number of
years. The fruit of these has usually been small and imper-
fect, ripening prematurely ; while other trees, of the same
varieties, standing but a short distance from the last, which
are thoroughly cultivated, retain their foliage late, the fruit
maturing perfectly and of good size.

We advise no one to set fruit-trees unless he has a fondness
for them which will stimulate him to continued watchfulness
and care ; for the true secret of success in fruit-raising in our
comparatively old and exhausted soil, is high culture and per-
sistent care. Adopting the advice of the Laird of Dumbe-
dikes to his son on his death-bed, we would add, "and take
care of it."

John Kenrick, for the Committee.

YINEYAKDS.

PLYMOUTH.

Statement of Marcus Maxim.

The vineyard which I entered for the society's premium con-
tains 547 vines, set the 12th of May, 1869, on about three-
fourths of an acre of land, in rows ten feet apart, and six feet
apart in the rows. The soil is a sandy loam, of very moderate
fertility, planted to corn and potatoes the tvvo years previous to
setting the vines, and treated rather lightly each year with a
compost consisting of one-fourth part barn manure, and three-
fourths muck, the muck having been previously mixed with a

76 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTUKE.

preparation of salt and lime, made by slaking a cask of shell-
lime with water containing a bushel of salt, four bushels of the
preparation being used to each cord of muck ; the quantity
used each year not exceeding 25 loads, spread and ploughed
in to a depth of some seven or eight inches.

The preparation of the ground for the vines consisted of
ploughing and harrowing. Stakes were then set, and five
large shovelfuls of the before-mentioned compost spread
around each stake, in a circle of about four feet in diameter,
and well forked in.

The vines, which were good two-year-old plants, were then
carefully set, pains being taken to have the roots well spread,
and some four inches below the surface. As soon as the buds
had developed to shoots of two inches in length, all but the
best one were removed, and that one was kept tied, and its
laterals pinched until the 1st of September, when, having
attained a height of from four to six feet, the tops of all were
pinched. As soon as the leaves had fallen, they were pruned
to three or four buds and a height of about a foot, soon after
which all were covered with earth to a depth of three or four
inches.

The cultivation was done principally with a horse and an
ordinary steel-tooth cultivator. The middle spaces were not
occupied, except in about one-third of the vineyard, which
was set to strawberries, two rows, two feet apart, in each
space, and they were not allowed to spread to within three
feet of the rows of vines. The strawberries grew finely,
and bore two heavy crops. I think it would have been
better had I set the entire vineyard to them, as the manure,
they received more than compensated, by enriching the land,
for any temporary check they may have given the vines.

The second season the vines were allowed to make two
canes, which grew very vigorously, and by fall attained a
height of eight or ten feet, when they were cut back to about
four feet in length, and covered the same as the previous sea-
son. The spring following posts were set twelve feet apart,
and galvanized No. 13 wire fastened to them by staples, the
lower wire being sixteen inches from the ground, and the
fourth and last three feet from the lower one. The canes
were securely tied to the lower wire, and from these, shoots

VINEYAKDS. 77

were allowed to grow, at a distance of some seven or eight
inches. As these shoots developed, they Avere pinched at
the fourth leaf beyond the last bunch of fruit, and kept tied
to the wires. I cut this season (1871) 1,500 pounds of fine,
well-ripened fruit.

The spring following, I cut the fruiting-canes back to two
eyes, and treated them the same as in the preceding season.
The amount of fruit was rather less than I expected, the gage-
bugs being much more destructive than usual, requiring consid-
erable labor in hand-picking them, that being the only suc-
cessful mode of warfare against them.

The winter of 1872-3 proved very destructive to my vines,
the thermometer falling to 31° below zero on the morning of
the 31st of January, killing all uncovered fruit-buds, and
injuring the vines so badly that I do not think they have
entirely recovered as yet. But through secondary buds we
replaced, during the ensuing season, most of our lost fruiting-
spurs, so that the crop of the present season is the heaviest I
have yet had, although much less, as I believe, than it would
have been had the vines remained uninjured, the fruiting-buds
having been necessarily much less perfect from late-starting
accessory buds than they would have been from perfect, unin-
jured ones.

The expenses and returns have been as follows : 547 vines
at 12 cts., $65.64; compost, $20 ; preparing ground and set-
ting vines, $18; use of stakes, $3; 286 posts and setting the
same, $28.60 ; 250 lbs. wire and putting on to posts, $45.75 ;
pruning, cultivation and tying, six years, $85 ; cutting and
marketing 5,100 lbs. of fruit, at 1 cent, $51; killing bugs,
$8; plaster and applying, $4.75; rental of three-fourths of
an acre of land, at $6 an acre per annum, $27 ; interest, $46.70.
Total, $403.44.

Received for 1,500 lbs. fruit, at 9 cts., $135 ; 1,600 lbs., at
10 cts., $160; 2,000 lbs., at 8 cts., $160. Total $455.

A portion of the crop of the present season I am obliged to
estimate, as, at the time of writing, a part is still uncut. The
vines in this vineyard have been almost entirely exempt from
disease. The only insects that have injured them arc the
gage-bug and the thrip, the latter confining its depredations
mostly to the end vines and outside rows.

78 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

Smarting under the los8 of the entire crop of 1873, I cov-
ered about one-half the vines that fall, but I think the los3
from bending so great that I shall not practise it in future.
Contrary to the general opinion, I think the crop was lessened,
rather than otherwise, by bending and covering the vines
through the winter.

Owing to the entire loss of one crop, the profits of the
vineyard have not been what I could have wished or what I
might reasonably have expected. But from the fine condition
of my vines at present, their small liability to a repetition of
the injury, and my past experience in the business, I believe
they will in the end give good returns for good care and
attention.

Statement of George Bryant.

The 330 grape-vines which I entered for a premium were
set in the fall of 1869 and the spring of 1870. They were
then one year old, and were set in rows six feet apart and
four feet apart in the rows. The lot is protected on the
north-west by an arbor-vitoe hedge, about ten feet high. The
soil, which is a sandy loam generally, with a mixture of
gravel on a part of it, was in good condition at the com-
mencement, and no manure has been applied since the vines
were set. I have kept the soil well loosened with the culti-
vator and hoe, and in the fall have cut back on the renewal
system of one fruiting-caue to a vine, which was wound
around a single stake and fastened at the top by a string. I
allowed no fruit to ripen until last year, when the crop proved
almost a failure, owing to the severity of the previous win-
ter. The present year has been more favorable, and my
crop would have been a good one but for the mildew, which,
to some extent, prevented the fruit from ripening. The
result is as follows : —

Expenses: 330 vines, at 5 cts., $16.50; setting do.,
$6.60; 330 stakes, at l\ cts., $4.95; sharpening and setting
do., $3.30 ; cultivating and hoeing, $25 ; picking and market-
ing fruit, $20. Total, $76.35.

Receipts: 191 lbs. fruit in 1873, at 10 cts., $19.10;
1,685 lbs. fruit in 1874, at 5 cts., $84.25 ; estimated present
value of vines, $165. Total, $268.35.

EOOT-CROPS. 79

EOO T-C EOPS.

ESSEX.

Statement of Y. G. Hurd.

Onions. — I enter for premium one-half acre of onions
raised on the county land at the house of correction, Ipswich,
this year, 1874.

The land is a heavy loam on clay bottom, underdrained.
It was dressed in the spring with barn-manure, which had
been hauled out in the fall, at the rate of nine cords to the
acre, as nearly as we could estimate. The land has been in
onions three years. It was ploughed four inches deep and
raked as smooth as possible. Seed was sown May 4, at the
rate of five pounds to the acre. The seed was Danvers Yel-
low, and judging by the crop, was a mixture of the flat and
round. The rows were thirteen inches apart. Four weedings
were necessary. The onions were topped in the field, and the
crop was taken off from the 6th to the 14th of October. As
the most accurate mode of measurement, I had the entire
crop weighed at the town scales. Reckoning 52 pounds to
the bushel, and dividing the net weight by 52, I found the
number of bushels.

The crop weighed :

Merchantable onions, . . . . .433 bushels.
Small and scullions, . . . . 15 "

Total, 448 bushels.

The crop was sold from the field in bulk, by weight, as fol-
lows :

433 bushels at 75 cents per bushel, . . . $324 75
6 " at 60 " " ... 3 60

Total, $328 35

80

MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

This leaves a balance of nine bushels on hand, which we
use in soups, etc.,, for the institution. The labor is all clone
by convicts, under charge of an officer. In estimating the
cost of raising half an acre of onions, I can estimate the
labor. I think that for a farmer who hires, it would be fair to
call the labor for ploughing, sowing, hoeing, weeding and
harvesting one-half acre, ..... $50 00

Manure, 4^ cords, at
Seed, 2 1 pounds, at $
Use of land, say .

Total cost,
Income,

Net profit, .

> per cord, .
.50 per pound,

36 00

8 75
10 00

$104 75
328 35

$223 60

You will observe that the only estimates in this statement
are the manure and cost, and the labor and use of land. The
remaining figures are accurate statements. I design to esti-
mate the labor at a fair amount. If we had barrelled the crop
and stored, there would have been some necessary additions,
but this was not done.

Ipswich, Nov. 4, 1874.

Statement of P. D. Adams.

Onions. — Having weighed my crop of onions, which I
entered for a premium, I am prepared to make the following
report :

First, I enter my whole bed, as I consider this the fair and
proper way to show what can be done. (I could have cut out
a half acre to better advantage.)

Whole bed : one acre and seventy-four rods.
Manure, 1\ cords — one-half slaughter-house, and

one-half horse and cow manure, . . . $101 00
Ploughing and harrowing, ..... 7 50

Hauling manure, ...... 9 75

To labor in cultivating, (as near as I can estimate,) 76 83

Total,

Credit by number of bushels raised, 1,431^ bush.
Seed used, 7i lbs.,

$195 08

1\ lbs.

ROOT-CROPS. 81

The two previous years, I used one-third part more manure,
• full .as much as I could well plough in, ploughing about 7
inches deep. ' This year, I ploughed about 4 or 5 inches
deep, and harrowed heavily with a heavy brush harrow, which
made the manure at once available, and for the whole season.
I got on one and a half pounds of seed more than I intended.
We thinned out enough to have made (we think) 50 bushels
— to the injury of the crop. They were not so good where
we thinned.

The soil is not sandy, but rather a dark, dense, heavy
loam.

The onions have all been sold to various parties, except
52 bushels in my cellar. The buyers consider the size and
quality unsurpassed.

Statement of Samuel A. Merrill.

Onions. — Statement concerning a crop of onions raised by
Samuel A. Merrill, in the town of Danvers, on the Burley
Farm. Measurement of land planted, 300 feet long by 70
feet wide.

In 1872 and 1873 the land was planted with onions. The
manure used each of these years, as well as the past year,
was a compost of barn-yard manure, night-soil manure and
muck, in about equal parts, at the rate of 8 cords to the acre.
Soil is a yellowish loam, with clay pan. In preparing the
land, I did not plough it at all, but -pulverized it four inches
deep with the Nesmith cultivator — this process was used once
before spreading the manure ; and after the last cultivation, I
smoothed the land with a drag. Did not rake ground ; it con-
taining no stone. The cost of preparing the land, exclusive
of the manure, was $2.50. The value of the manure on the
land was $40. Planted upon the 30th of April, with the
Danvers sower. Used the Danvers Silverskin seed, one
and a half pounds, at $5 a pound.

Cost of planting, $1 ; hoeing and weeding four times —
no thinning out was necessary — $12. Pulled the onions
September 28, and, after leaving them to dry on the ground
till October 13, carted them into the barn that day.
The cost of harvesting and topping amounts to $25. The
li*

82 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

onions measured, after topping, 390 bushels. Value in barn,
$1 per bushel. *

Danvees, Nov. 9, 1874.

HAMPDEN.

Statement of William Mattoon.

Mangolds and Ruta-bagas. — I will give you a statement
of the cost of raising the crop of one and one-half acre of
mangolds, and also the cost of raising the acre of ruta-baga
turnips.

The land upon which each crop grew was alike, lying side
by side. It was, some eight years since, old, worn-out sand-
plain, producing not five bushels of corn per acre. In the
winter of 1871-72, I hauled from the reservoir lands of turf
from a clay soil, and also clay, 52| cords to the acre, at a
cost of $87.50 for hauling, spreading, harrowing, rolling,
bushing, etc. ; then put on of fine compost made from hog,
cattle and horse manure, one part manure to two of turf and
chiy, seven cords to the acre. Sowed to barley, clover and
orchard-grass ; had a good crop of barley, and the seed came
up finely and had a good growth.

In the winter of 1872-73 the grass and clover were badly
winter-killed. The land being very level, the water did not
flow oil' freely, and stood in many places until evaporation
carried it oft*. In the spring of 1874, I bought, of slaughter
manure (fresh), without being composted, twenty cords, and
put it upon this land at the rate of six cords to the acre, and
ploughed it in 9 inches deep (measuring upon the land side
with a rule) ; and after lying some four weeks, harrowed
with a Shares' harrow, loading so that it would cut three or
four inches. Then hauled and spread from the carts, 2|-
cords of fine stable-manure ; harrowed as before. Then put
on 100 bushels of a very low grade of ashes, which cost 8
cents per bushel ; harrowed them in with a fine harrow,
May 20. Ridged with a tobacco-ridger the 1| acre for the
mangolds 30 inches apart. Sowed the seed with a drill,
using 5 lbs. to the acre, about one-half Long Red, the other
Yellow Globe.

ROOT-CROPS. 83

The land for the turnips was harrowed every 10 or 14
days, to kill the weeds, until June 20th. "Land ridged same

as for mangolds ; rows, 30 inches apart, and seed used 1

pound to the acre, put in with a drill. I did not get a good
stand of mangolds, but of turnips it was very fine.

COST OF MANGOLDS PER ACRE.

Six cords manure, I paid $5 ; hauling, $2 = $7, . $42 00

Spreading it, say 40 cts. per cord, 6 cords, . . 2 40

To ploughing 1 acre, . ... . . . 2 50

harrowing twice and bushing, . . . . 2 50

2\ cords stable manure and hauling, $9 per cord, 22 50

100 bushels ashes drawn on land, . . 10 00

ridging 1 acre, ...... 75

5 lbs. mangold seed, at 621- cts., . . . 3 13

weeding and hoeing first time, one acre, 6 days, . 10 00

weeding and hoeing second time and cultivating, 10 75
harvesting, and man 8|days, and horse and cart

3 days, . . 15 75

Seven percent, interest on land at $200 per acre, . 14 00

Cost of one acre of mangolds, . . . $138 28

Your committee viewed the crop and selected two rows to
be harvested, which I did, and they were weighed upon hay-
scales. There were in the two rows, 2,625 square feet, and
the weight was 3,079 lbs., making to the acre, 51,093. If
they are worth one-third as much to feed per ton as hay, they
would equal 17,031 lbs. of hay. This, at $20 per ton, would
be $170.31. Then if the tops upon the two rows of 2,625
feet equal 1,012 lbs., it will be at the rate per acre of 16,755
lbs., and if they are of one-sixth part the value of hay, they
would equal 2,792 lbs. of hay. This, at $20 per ton, would
be $27.92, as the value of the tops.

Total value of roots and tops, .... $198 23

Cost of one acre, allowing the land to be iu as good

condition now as before the crop was raised, . 138 28

Profit, $59 95

84

MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

COST OF TURNIP-CROP, ONE ACRE.

Expense of manure, fitting, etc., same as for man-
golds, .......

1 lb. seed, *

Hoeing and thinning first time, 4 days at $1.75,

" " second " 3|- days, .

Cultivating once, man and horse \ day, .
Harvesting, one man, 6^ clays,
Use of horse and cart, 2| days, at 75 cts.,

Total cost of the crop, .....
7 per cent, interest on one acre land,

$123 21

I harvested two average rows of the turnips and weighed
them, and the yield was 2,595 lbs. on 2,625 square feet,
making 43,054 lbs. per acre.

This, at one-third the value of hay, calling hay $20

per ton, would equal 14,351 lbs., . . . $143 51
Deduct cost of crop, ...... 123 21

. $82 65

75

7

00

6

03

1

00

9

75

2

03

. $109

21

. 14

00

Profit,

$20 30

I am in favor of raising roots for all kinds of stock, and
know that my young cattle grow much faster when I have
plenty of roots than they do fed only upon dry hay and bran ;
and I should no more think of depriving my cattle of roots
than I should my children of apples, grapes, oranges and other
fruits. Of mangolds, carrots and different kinds of turnips,
I have raised over 3,000 bushels at 60 lbs. to the bushel.

I counted one load of mangolds to find what the average
weight was per root, and found it to be 41604030 of a pound,
and should have stated that I intend to have mangolds stand
in the row 15 inches apart and ruta-bagas 12 inches, with
rows 30 inches apart. I fed the tops of the mangolds to my
cattle ; having some forty head, it did not take long to con-
sume them, and only harvested them about each alternate
day. The tops from the turnips I did not use, as some had
lice on them.

ROOT-CROPS. 85

HINGHAM.

Statement of Albert Fearing.

Beets. — I annex a statement of the production and cost of
half an acre of beets.

The soil is a light brown loam, with a gravelly subsoil ; in
corn last year. Ploughed twelve inches deep, and applied five
cords of manure ; harrowed in with a Randall's harrow. Rows
two feet apart ; hoed three times.

PRODUCT.

818£-{f bushels, 24|i§§ tons.

i at $8, . .

COST.

. $196 90

Ploughing, .
Cultivating, .
5 cords manure at $10, .
\ less, .

$50 00
12 50

$4 00
18 00

37 50

Seed $2, harvesting $12,

.

14 00

73 50

Balance,

. $123 40

Albert Fearing.

Statement of David Whiton. ■

For one acre mangel-wurzel beets.

Soil gravelly loam ; in beets and onions last year. Ploughed
eight inches deep ; applied twenty tons rockweed, ploughed
in ; and three cords compost manure, harrowed in ; sowed
June 5, in rows eighteen inches apart.

PRODUCT.

1,912 bushels per acre, or 57 tons 720 lbs., at $10, $573 60

COST OF CULTIVATION.

Ploughing and other preparation, . $6 00

20 tons rockweed, $2.50, . . . 50 00

$24 00

5

00

' 20

00

20

00

$125 00

86 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

2 cords of manure,
Seed and planting,
Cultivating,
Harvesting,

Balance, $448 60

PLYMOUTH.

Statement of David WJiiton, of Hingliam.

Potatoes. — The land on which I raised my potatoes,
measuring one acre, is a dark, gravelly loam, in grass without
manure in 1872, and in 1873 until August 1st, when it was
ploughed about ten inches deep ; fourteen loads, of 30 bushels,
of barn-cellar manure applied, and sowed with millet, which
was subsequently cut and made into hay, yielding about two
tons. Early in April, 1874, four tons of rockweed were
ploughed in, seven inches deep, the land harrowed, and fur-
rowed in drills about three and a half feet apart. In these
drills about twenty loads of manure were spread, and six
bushels of Early Rose potatoes, cut in pieces having two eyes
each, as nearly as possible, put into the manure, the pieces
being placed about eighteen inches apart and having a small
handful of phosphate (500 pounds in all) scattered over each
piece. The land was twice cultivated with a horse-cultivator
and hoed twice with hand-hoes. The potatoes, which were
very smooth and very even throughout the piece, were dug
early in October, and measured 461i bushels. Expenses :
ploughing and other preparation, $8; manure $71; seed and
planting, $30.50 ; cultivation, $18 ; harvesting, $30 ; total,
$157.50. Value of potatoes when dug and stored, $420.24.

Statement of Albert Thomas, of Middleborough.
Turnips. — My turnip-patch, containing forty square rods,
was in grass without manure in 1872 ; in 1873 it was manured
with two and a half cords of barn-cellar manure, and planted
with corn ; ploughed three times between May 1 and July 1,
1874, turning in the same quantity of manure as in the previous
year; harrowed, and planted July 3, with sweet German

ROOT-CROPS. 87

turnip-seed, using a seed-sower ; cultivated twice with a
cultivator, and hoed once with hand-hoes. Product, 10,720
pounds, or 178±- bushels, being at the rate of 714| bushels
per acre. Expenses : ploughing, etc., $2 ; manure, $12 ; seed
and planting, $1 ; cultivation, $3, harvesting, $4 ; total, $22.

Statement of Spencer Leonard, of Bridgewater.
The land on which I raised my turnips, containing one-
quarter of an acre, was mowed in 1872, in 1873, and again
in 1874, yielding at the rate of about three-fourths of a ton
per acre. About June 25, the present season, immediately
after taking off the hay, it was ploughed about seven inches
deep, turning in five loads of compost manure ; about sixteen
bushels of leached ashes and seventy-five pounds of the
Brighton fertilizer were spread upon the furrows and thor-
oughly harrowed in; planted July 1, to yellow Swedish
turnips, in rows thirty-four inches apart, planting with a seed-
sower and using about three ounces of seed ; hoed three times,
using a horse-cultivator the same number of times. Product :
125^- bushels, being at the rate of 500| bushels per acre.
Expenses: ploughing and harrowing, $1.50; manure, $14:
seed and plantiug, 75 cts. ; cultivation, $5.25; harvesting,
$5 ; total, $26.50. It will be perceived that this is the second
crop taken from the land the present season.

88 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

INDIAN COEN.

ESSEX:

From the Report of the Committee.
We would call particular attention to Mr. Killam's method
of cultivating this important and profitable crop. His field
being placed in squares, enabled him to do his work with the
cultivator. His field was level ; no hill around the corn ; free
from weeds, showing a thoroughness seldom seen among our
farmers. We would also call particular attention to the
large amount of excellent fodder this acre produces, which
experience proves to be nearly equal to English hay. This,
with the amount of corn, one hundred and ten (110) bushels
to the acre, is well worth the attention of our farmers.

The trustees passed the following vote with reference to
crop of Mr. Killam :

Voted, That the trustees consider that sufficient allowance
has not been made for the shrinkage of the corn, thus over-
estimating the marketable value ; also, that the value of corn-
fodder is somewhat over-estimated.

Charles P. Preston, Secretary.

Statement of Oliver P. Killam.

Statement concerning a crop of corn raised by Mr. Oliver
P. Killam, of West Boxford, and entered for premium at
the society's fair for 1874.

This field was in grass for 1872 and 1873 ; no manure ap-
plied to it ; soil, a dark, gravelly loam, 9 inches deep ; on this
was spread 4 cords of long manure from the barn cellar (for
this crop), then broken 8 inches deep, furrow laid flat and
rolled down ; on this were spread 2 cords of compost manure
and well pulverized in with the harrow. Planted 25th of May

INDIAN CORN.

89

3^ feet apart each way ; five quarts of yellow eight-rowed
corn was used to the acre ; cultivated three times each way ;
hoed twice. Harvested September 30, by cutting up at
the bottom and stooking in the field. November 5, hauled
to the barn, husked and weighed, giving 8,823 pounds of corn
on the cob, weighing 40 pounds to the basket of a bushel,
220|-| bushels of ears, giving a fraction over 110 bushels
of shelled corn to the acre.

Expenses on the above :
To interest and taxes on land, ....
six cords of manure and spreading, etc., one-half

for present crop, ....
ploughing $5, rolling and harrowing $3,
seed and planting, ....
cultivating and hoeing,
harvesting and husking, .

Credit by 110 bushels of corn at $1 per

bushel, $110 00

Credit by 6 tons corn-fodder at $10 per ton, 60 00

$7 50

30

00

8

00

4

00

5

00

8

00

>2 50

170 00

Balance in favor of the crop,
November 9, 1874.

. $107 50

Statement of Marh F. Hill.
Account of expense of one acre of field-corn raised by
Mark F. Hill, oil the Dummer Academy Farm, in Byfield,
1874 :

Dr.

To seven cords barn-manure, one-half to present
crop, ....
ploughing once,
harrowing once,
seed, ....
planting,

hoeing with horse-hoe twice,
thinning and weeding,

12*

. $35 00

2

50

1

00
50

6

00

5

00

4

00

90

MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTUKE.

To cut stalks, . . .

husking in field, ....
cut butt-stalks and hauling,
interest and tax on land, .

$77 00
15 00

$3 50
4 00
3 00
7 00

Cr.
By 73| bushels corn at $1.05 per bushel, .
corn-fodder, .....

$71 50

Cost of cultivation,

$92 00
71 50

Profits, . . ■ .

$20 50

My corn-piece had been planted to onions and cabbages for
the past two years and manured well, and is in good tilth for
a hay-crop.

WORCESTER SOUTH-EAST.

Statement of Lewis Wood, of Mendon.

I raised my corn on one acre of land. The ground was

greensward, ploughed in August, 1873, and harrowed in the

spring of 1874. Eight cords of cellar-manure were spread

broadcast, and four cords of compost put in the hill ; the soil

is a deep loam.

Dr.

To ploughing and harrowing once, . . . $10 00

planting and hoeing, . . . . . 8 00

8 cords of cellar-manure, at $4 per cord, . . 32 00

4 cords of compost " " 3 " " . . 12 00

harvesting the crop, . . . . . 8 00

Cr.
By 104 bushels of corn, at $1.20 per bushel,
Corn-stalks and husks, .

Less cost, ......

Net profit of crop, $94 80

$70 00

. $124 80
. 40 00

$164 80
. 70 00

INDIAN CORN. 91

PLYMOUTH.

Statement of Benjamin Harden, of Bridgewaier.
The land I planted to corn, the present year, is a rich, dark,
sandy loam, containing 175 square rods ; it has been for
several years in grass without manure. It was ploughed May
25, seven inches deep, turning in 36 loads of manure from
my barn-cellar, each load containing 30 bushels ; 60 bushels
.of leached ashes were spread upon the furrows and harrowed
in ; planted May 27, with smutty white or hill corn, in
rows three and one-half feet apart and in hills about two feet
apart, putting four kernels of corn to each hill, and a hand-
ful of hen-manure and soil mixed ; cultivated three times
with a horse-cultivator, and hoed twice. Product, as ascer-
tained by the supervisor, October 19, 123^ bushels, being
at the rate of 112t7q bushels per acre, and three tons of
stover. Expenses : ploughing and harrowing, $10 ; manure
and ashes, $68; seed and planting, $5; cultivation, $10;
harvesting, $16 ; total $109.

92

MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

DAIEY STOCK.

ESSEX.

Statement of Henry SdltonstaU.

Jeesets. — I enter for premium in the class of "Thorough-
bred Jersey Cows, four years old and upwards," my imported
Jersey cows, "Diamond" and "Snowdrop," numbers 570 and
569 in the American Jersey Cattle Club Herd Register.

"Diamond" was eight years old last July, and has been
owned by me since importation in 1866. She was bred by
John P. Marett, one of the best breeders in the Island of
Jersey, and was specially selected and imported for me. She
has always been an excellent milker and a good breeder, never
having dropped an ordinary calf. Her time of calving, Sep-
tember 24, 1874, has prevented the record of her milk being
kept as required by the Society, she being dry the last ten days
of August. Her previous calf was born August 5, 1873, and
the last ten days of that month she gave, on pasture feed alone,
eighteen quarts of milk a day. The first ten days of June,
1874, she gave on pasture feed alone four quarts of milk a day.
Seven quarts of her milk will make a pound of butter.

"Snowdrop" will be six years old, October 17 next. She
was sired by a prize bull in the Island of Jersey. Her last
calf was dropped April 30, 1874, and she is due to calve
again April 30, 1875. Her milk-record is as follows, in
pounds : —

Morning.

Evening.

Total.

Morning.

Evening.

Total.

June 1,

20*

20

40*

Aug.

25,

15

14*

29*

2,

19

20

39

26,

14*

14*

29

3,

19

21

40

27,

14*

m

29

4,

19

22

41

28,

14

14

28

5,

20

20*

40*

29,

14*

14

28*

6,

19

20

39

30,

15

14

29

7,

19

20*

39*

31,

14*

15

29^

8,

18*

20

38*

Sept,

1,

15

IH

29*

9,

18

22

40

95

15

14

29

10,

19

21

40

3,

14*

15

29*

Total lbs. 191

207

398

146*

144

2904

DAIRY STOCK. 93

Her feed in June was grass only. In August and Sep-
tember, the pasture being dry, she had a pint of corn-nieal
and a quart of shorts twice a day. Taking the mean of the
two trials above for the average of the whole time, her yield
for three months was 34 j4^ pounds, or over sixteen quarts a
day ; 6^ quarts of her milk will make a pound of butter.
Taking into consideration the quantity and quality of her
milk, on light feed, I ,oifer "Snowdrop" for the premium
"for the best milch cow."

I also offer for exhibition, her age preventing her from com-
peting for premium, my high grade Jersey cow, "Sibyl,"
}f Jersey, T3g- Ayrshire, dropped March 16, 1859, now 15 J-
years old. Her pedigree is as follows : "Flora" was a very
celebrated cow, her yield of milk and butter being noted in
more than one Report of the Secretary of the Massachusetts
State Board of Agriculture.

Colonel — Countess,

Major — Flora, Typhoon — Sylph,
Dick Swiveller, Gipsey,

Sibyl.

Colonel, Countess, Flora and Typhoon, were Jerseys, im-
ported by Thomas Motley, Esq. Sylph was a | Ayrshire.
Sibyl calved June 4, 1874, and is due to calve again May 11,
1875. Her milk record for this year is as follows, in pounds :

Morning. Evening. Total. Morning. Evening. Total.

June 15, 17 29 87 Aug. 25, 18 18 36

16, 17 21 38 26, 18 18£ 36J

17, 17 21 38 27, 18£ 19 37£

18, 171 20 37| 28, 18 19 37

19, 18 20 38 29, 18-1 19 37£

20, 18 191 37£ 30, 19 19 38

21, 18 21 39 31, 19 19 38

22, 18^ 21| 40 Sept. 1, 20 20 40

23, 18J 211 40 2, 20 19£ 39£

24, 18 191 371 3, !Q 19^ 35a.

Total lbs. 1771 205 3821 jgs 190-| 378£

Her feed in June was grass alone. In August and Sep-
tember, the pasture being dry, she had one quart of corn-meal
and one quart of shorts twice a day.

94 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

The above record shows an average yield of 38 pounds, or
nearly 18 quarts of rnilk a day for three months. It has always
been very difficult to dry this cow for a few days at a time
each year, and some years she could not be dried at all. Un-
til after she was 12 years old she could not be fed with any
grain — the increased pressure of milk bringing 'on inflamma-
tion of the bag m a few days.

In the year 1868, being then nine years old, she calved
April 7. Her milk was regularly weighed from that date to
April 7, 1869. The result was a total yield of 13,065 pounds,
or more than 6| tons, or abont 17^ times her own weight of
milk in twelve mouths. The detailed statement is as follows :

Days.

Lbs. per day.

Total lbs.

June 1,

1868,

54

55

2,970

June,

a

30

49

1,470

July,

«(

31

44

1,364

Aug.

(<

31

39

1,209

Sept.

(<

30

34

1,020

Oct.

(<

31

32

992

Nov.

(<

30

30

900

Dec.

a

31

28'

868

Jan.

1869,

31

27

837

Feb.

i i

28

23

644

March,

n

31

21

651

April 1 to April 7 " 7 20 140

Her greatest yield was 60 pounds a day, for several days,
and the average was 38^ pounds, or say 17 quarts a day, for
the whole 365 days.

Statement of J. D. W. French.

Ayrshires. — I enter my Ayrshire cow, "Roxanna," 1816,
Ayrshire Herd-book (Dam, Rose, 743 — Sire, McDonald,
3d, 263), for the premium for the best Ayrshire cow, four
years old and upwards. Record of milk, feed, etc., will be
found in accompanying paper.

I have also entered the following Ayrshire cows, which have
been unable to comply with the rule, as to the time of weigh-
ing milk, on account of their time of calving :

DAIRY STOCK.

95

"Dolly," 342. Calved April 13, 1864. Ten years old.
(Sire, Harold, 149 — Dam, Jean Armour, 91.) She dropped
her last calf July 31. Began to weigh her milk August 5,
and in 27 days up to September 1, she gave 934^ pounds of
milk, on pasture, and a little green fodder at night the last
of August. She gave last September, after calving, 22 quarts
per day.

"Jennie Gray," 477. Calved February 16, 1867. Seven
ye-drs old. (Sire, Duncan, 161 — Dam, Eosa, 186.) She
dropped her calf August 31.

I enter my Ayrshire cow, "Roxanna," 1816, A. H. B.
Calved April 10, 1870, thus four years old last April, and bred
by me, for the premium for the best milch cow of any breed,
with satisfactory evidence as to milk, manner of feeding, etc.

"Roxanna" dropped a bull-calf (her second calf), December
23, 1873. On the 24th I began to weigh her milk, and since
then have weighed it daily.

RECORD OF MILK.

During the remainder of December, .

" January, 1874,

" February, "

" March, " .

" April, "...

" May, "...

" June, "...

" July, " ' .

" August, "

259| lbs.
1,0471
8531
891
768|
765
787f
7891
6981

6,861 lbs.

Taking 2.15 as the standard weight of one quart of milk,
6,861 pounds =3, 19 1.11 quarts, or 12.71 quarts per day for
251 days. During the first ten days in June she gave 257|
pounds of milk. During the last ten days of August, 223 1
pounds. Time of next calving, February 23, 1875.

During the winter she was fed good hay morning and after-
noon (with a baiting of poor hay at noon), one quart of meal
and one peck of mangolds per day.

After turning out to grass the last of May, she received
nothing in addition to the pasture until the last of August,

96

MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

when some green fodder was given. Her weight is 830
pounds.

Statement of Benjamin P. Ware.

I offer for premium my thoroughbred Ayrshire cow, "Miss
Mavis, 4th," born August 25, 1869, whose dam was Miss
Mavis, 3d, grand-dam was Miss Mavis, she imported by
Sanford Howard, Esq., for the Massachusetts Society for the
Promotion of Agriculture ; sire, Ducet, bred by George B.
Loring (see herd-book) ; he by Johnnie, 34 ; dam, Posey, 129 ;
he by Essex, 22 ; dam, Star, 129.

Her feed during the summer has been grass and corn fod-
der in the barn in the forenoon, and pasture in the afternoon ;
she has had no grain, or other feed. She calved last 15th
of June, and will calve next May 13.

She gave, August 22,
« " 23,

<< " 24,

" » 25,

26,
" » 27,

" " 28,

« " 29,

« " 30,

» " 31,

Morning.

14 lbs. 6 oz.

13
13
15
13
12
13
13
13
13

6 »

2 "

6 "

0 "

2 "

2 "

0 "

6 "

2 "

Evening.

13 lbs. 0 oz. milk.

6 "

2 "

12
12
12
14
13
13
13
13
13

6 "
2 "
6 »

2 "

2 "(

•0 "

6 "

Statement of H. G. Herrick.
Grades. — My milch cpw is grade, Jersey and Shorthorn ;
five years old ; dropped last calf April 1, 1874 ; will calve in
March, 1875. Feed, English hay and two quarts of meal and
six quarts of shorts, or brewers' grains, per day ; April and
May mangolds ; parts of June and July at grass.

She gave in April, .
" in May, .
" in June, .
" in July, .
" in August,

Giving in five months,

. 1,388

lbs.

milk.

. 1,456

(<

. 1,440

a

. 1,317

a

. 1,175

c<

. 6,775

lbs.

milk.

DAIRY STOCK. 97

28 clays in Sept., .... She gave 856 pounds.

First 10 days in June, . . . " 501 "

" " in Aug., ..." 371 "

The 5th day of June, . . . " 57 "

Statement of C. «7. Peabody.

Grade Heifers. — I enter for premium my Heifer " Blossy."
She was three years old in May last, is grade Ayrshire, was
raised by me from a native cow of great milking qualities,
and sired by an Ayrshire bull. She dropped her first calf in
June, 1873; calved again May 20, 1874; will next calve
April 12, 1875. Her keeping has been good pasture through
the season from the time of calving till June 20, one quart of
meal per clay; after August 15, one feed of corn-fodder per
day, and since September 1st, one feed of potatoes daily in
addition.

Quantity of milk per day for the first ten days of June,
and last ten days of August, in pounds, as follows : —

June

1,

22| pounds.

August 22,

19

pounds.

<«

2,

23

(<

(<

23,

19

a

<(

3,

24

c«

(C

24,

19

tt

tt

4,

24

<(

tt

25,

18

a

ft

5,

■ 22

a

it

26,

19

tt

tt

6,

25

it

a

27,

19

a

(<

7,

25

tt

it

28,

19

a

it

8,

25

a

it

29,

19

a

il

9,

24

(<

it

30,

19

tt

<«

10,

26

it

Douncls.

tt

31,

19

a

240 J

189

pounds.

MIDDLESEX.

From the Report of the Committee,
Dutch Cattle. — The committee to examine and award
the premiums on Dutch cattle, being absent on the day of
the exhibition, the officers of the Society appointed a com-
mittee to attend to the duties assigned them, and this com-
mittee proceeded to make a thorough examination of all the
Dutch cattle offered, and were sorry to find so few of this

13*

98 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

breed of cattle at our exhibition, — only five animals in all, —
three bulls, one bull-calf, one four-year old. Of the bulls,
one was a grade, one had no statement, leaving the animals
owned by Mr. T. Ei Whiting, of Concord, eligible for pre-
mium.

First, the bull "Elswout," four years old, differed from
the Dutch or Holstein cattle exhibited at our shows in former
years by Messrs. Chenery, Munroe and Cummiugs, as fol-
lows : color, more black, the body being nearly all black ;
size, large, but not as large as those shown by Mr. Chenery
or Mr. Munroe. In form he was straight on the back, a
thinner neck, and not so prominent hips, but was well filled
out throughout the entire length of his body, much finer in
bone, a glossy coat of hair, and a good skin, handling
well.

In general appearance he would impress a person ac-
quainted with Dutch cattle, and not prejudiced, as being a
remarkably fine-bred animal ; in fact, the very best-shaped
Dutch bull ever in the society's pens. But now the impor-
tant consideration comes up, will his progeny prove to be
good milkers, for that is the strong point in this breed ; for,
as beef cattle they do not compare with the Shorthorns, either
in form, aptitude to fatten, or early maturity. He is only
four years old, and none of his stock have arrived at a suffi-
cient age to decide that point, but they show his strength of
blood by being all marked nearly like the sire, and give prom-
ise of being good milkers. The grades produced from crosses
with Messrs. Chenery, Munroe and Cummings' stock have
generally proved excellent milkers, good animals for the
milkman, and are sought for by men making milk for the
market, because they give a large quantity and hold out well,
but are not desirable for butter-makers ; and your committee
would recommend this as one, if not the very best cross,
where quantity is the principal object.

We next come to the cow " Susan, " a very fine animal as
compared with other Dutch cattle. She has the same char-
acteristics as the bull "Elswout," being finer built than other
cows of this breed. In the statement of Mr. Whiting,
herewith annexed, will be found her product, which is cer-
tainly remarkable for an animal of her age, this being her

DAIKY STOCK. 99

first milking season, one week giving nearly twenty-six and
three-fourths quarts of milk a day, and giving as much milk
in the sixth month after calving as in the first. We say that
it is a remarkable yield of milk for a heifer, and no good
judge of this stock can examine her and not feel confident
that she is just the animal to do that very thing.

The bull "Elswout, 2d," sire "Elswout," dam "Susan," the
animal just described, was almost precisely like the sire, and
a fine animal.

We cannot omit to say that we have been conversant with
Dutch, Dutch or Holstein, and Holstein, as shown by the
Holsteiu herd-book. There is a controversy going on be-
tween the owners of these cattle, one party claiming that
they are Holstein cattle, and that Holstein is the proper
name ; others, that they are Dutch or North Holland cattle,
and that Dutch is the only right name. If the testimony of
disinterested men, good judges of nearly all the breeds of
cattle prominently known in Europe, who have examined
them- in their native country can be relied upon, the whole
of them, Dutch, Dutch or Holstein, or pure Holstein, as
imported into this section of the country, are all one and the
same thing, and are the breed generally found in North Hol-
land, where there is no herd-book, and varying precisely as
cattle do with our farmers, one breeding better and more
carefully than another, and thereby obtaining better animals.

It is no part of the duty of your committee to decide this
matter. We only give you what good judges say, and there-
fore we shall leave it for the consideration of the society, if"
they desire to consider it. We will close by repeating, that
crosses of the bulls of any of these cattle are valuable for
the milkman, where quantity is the principal object.

For the Committee,

John B. Moore.

Statement of Tko?nas E. Whiting.

I offer for competition for your society's premiums the
following : —

Dutch bull "Elswout," four, years old last May; bred in

100 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

North Holland, and imported thence by me in the fall of
1871.

Dutch cow "Susan," four years old, bred in North Hol-
land, and imported thence by me in May, 1873. This cow
Calved April 5 last: her yield of milk for the 176 days
since, has been 8,206 pounds 2 ounces, or an average of
46 pounds 10 ounces per day for about six months Her
largest yield for any one week has been 373 pounds 12
ounces, — from June 7 to 13, — or an average of 53 pounds 5
ounces per day. From this your committee will notice an
extraordinary evenness of yield over a long period of time.
Yesterday she gave 41 pounds 3 ounces, and for the past
month her yield has equalled that of her first month after
calving. Her feed was, for the first month after calving, hay
only, with three pecks of turnips daily; since then, hay or
pasture, according to the season, and at no time more grain
than two quarts of meal per day, until within the past fortnight,
her pasture having become very bare, two quarts bran have
been added.

Concord, Sept. 29, 1874.

BRISTOL.

From the Report of the Committee.

Milk, with its products, is a luxury we can ill afford to dis-
pense with ; the loss of any other article of food except the
staff of life, would cost less in healthful nutriment or even in
the pleasures of the table. Our children drink it ; it is pre-
scribed by physicians as medicine and food for the sick ; it is
an- ingredient of which the cook makes constant use; and
without butter, bread would hardly seem palatable to many.
Hence the aim of pur farmers should be a continued improve-
ment of their cows in the quantity and quality of milk. Few
people get as much as is desirable from their farm-stock.

To the widow whose falling fences scarcely keep her one
cow in her old pasture, or to the woman of the village who
watches hers by the roadside, as well as to him who owns
herds, good cows are indispensable to success ; with care and
judgment on the part of farmers, such might be attainable
by all.

DAIRY STOCK. 101

Our largest dairy farms at present are those which furnish
milk for the cities and villages, and as there are located in
Bristol County three prosperous and growing cities, and many
large villages, where great quantities of milk are consumed,
it is important to obtain the stock that produces the. most
milk of a quality that will give satisfaction to their customers.
Some milkmen think the Ayrshires produce the best milk for
market, but a large share of those engaged in the milk trade
in this vicinity keep natives and grades or a cross with some
thoroughbred.

To the many who manufacture butter or cheese the quality
of milk is of first importance, while the large quantity is not
to be despised. Let all who keep stock obtain the cows best
suited to their purpose, either for butter or cheese (quantity or
quality) , and then treat them generously ; the better they feed,
the fuller the pails. What the agricultural community most
desires and needs to know is, which of the different breeds are
to be preferred. How can the farmer know which is the most
productive? Which the most profitable to keep? Is the
superior richness of the milk of the Jersey an equivalent for
the greater quantity of the Ayrshire, or does the hardier
character of the native outbalance the early maturity and
greater size of the Shorthorn, or the beautiful symmetry and
quiet docility of the Devon, or the grade or cross of different
races? Who knows, and by what principle shall the farmer
select, the best animals for his purpose ? These are questions
to which stock-raisers, from various motives, give different
answers.

Your committee will not attempt to answer these and
various other questions that may arise in regard to farm-stock,
but will make a few suggestions relating to them. Farmers
must take into consideration the locality in which they live,
the nature and capacity of their farms ; they must be gov-
erned by true principles of economy, and obtain all the
information they can from books, papers, neighbors and
friends, then use their best judgment in applying such knowl-
edge to practice ; also learn from their own experience (the
best instructor), and note every fact in regard to it. The
favorite breeds at the present, in this locality, are the Jersey
and Ayrshire, while a few prefer the Shorthorn, others the

102 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

Devon ; each has its advocates. The Jersey gives rich milk
and has many fine points, yet seems to require more pamper-
ing, richer feed and better housing, while the Ayrshire, com-
ing from a higher latitude, and where there are greater
changes of temperature and more variations of soil, retains a
hardihood better adapted to our summer heats and rigorous
winters, but well repaying kind treatment. After obtaining
the right animals comes the proper treatment. Care should
be taken to have them cleanly ; no less care should be taken
in the dairy. Any experienced butter-maker knows how
much is absorbed by the cream from the atmosphere, and
how surely bad odors of any kind taint its flavor.

All this requires diligence and care. There is not now, and
never has been, any such thing as success for a lazy farmer in
New England ; he must either work or make a failure.
Besides manual labor, there must be work for the mind. Let
us teach our sons and our daughters to take an interest in the
farm, and whatever pertains to it; they will be no worse men
for petting and caring for animals or less gracious women for
assisting in the dairy.

Augustus Lane, Chairman.

NANTUCKET.

From the Report of the Committee on Grade Stock.

The influence imparted by the introduction of thoroughbred
cattle into this county a few years since, has directly and re-
motely tended to the improvement of neat-stock ; indirectly
it has led to a transmission of excellent qualities into many
hundred milch cows ; and the idea which underlies all others,
and is now universally prevalent is, that common stock can be
improved by crossing with pure-blood stock. This is a grand
impulse ; it is progressive in its spirit ; it is improvement
itself, and has been of great value to the stock interest of our
county.

Farmers who entertain strong prejudice against pure-breds
as a class, — who think there are many imperfect points in the
fawn-like Jerseys, — suppose them to be too delicate in their
constitution and habits for hard use, and have introduced the
breed into their herds to obtain by the combination the

DAIRY STOCK. 103

superior quality of milk so proverbial to the breed, as com-
pared with natives.

Some stock-raisers in this State are improving their herds
in this manner without the use of imported stock. It would,
however, require many generations of stock to get a pure
breed, for many thoroughbred cows differ as much from each
other in their qualities as milkers, as they differ from ex-
cellent natives.

The plan generally adopted by stock-raisers, is to breed
from pure blood with thoroughbreds ; but even here extreme
care is requisite, or the stock will and must deteriorate.
Some pure bloods are poor cows, imperfect physically, and
unfit for breeders or milkers ; hence the necessity of great
care in the selection for breeders, be they thoroughbreds or
natives. A superior native may be a better breeder than an
inferior thoroughbred.

The accurate and scientific breeder looks well to the quality
of tho animal desired, whether it be beef or milk which is
most wanted. The brain of beef-producing animals is com-
paratively small ; they are calm and unexcitable in their
organization, but the production of milk is the result of
delicately constructed organs in the animal economy.

An eminent stock-raiser in our State gives the following
description of the qualities observable in selecting an ex-
cellent milch cow: "A good dairy-cow has a good deal of
brain ; she is wide across the top of her head, wide between
the eyes, and is a very sensitive animal indeed. A thunder-
shower will often reduce her flow of milk ; a blow from a
whip will often reduce it. Her cerebral organization, and
the functions which are devoted to the production of milk,
are delicately formed." He also adds : "When you wish to
select a milk-producing cow, you want a firm, broad head, a
clear, bright, expressive eye ; and if the horn is a little large
at the base, it does no harm. You want the shoulders to be
comparatively loose, not compact like the shoulders of a beef-
producing, fattening animal, thrown on ; apparently a good
milking cow always has this peculiarity. If a dairy cow
drops a little behind the shoulders, do not let it disturb you.
A dairy cow's back and rump should be as level as those of a
beef-producing animal ; her forefeet should be broad, firm,

104 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

and large in proportion to her leg ; her leg fine below the
knee, and compact and strong above ; the hind feet should be
long and projecting. Time and space will not permit me to
extend this description farther." These and many other
essential points with which our experienced stock-raisers are
familiar, are all-important in a superior milch cow.

Great care is also requisite in feeding a cow that is at work
in your dairy. "She should be fed in such a manner as to
preserve all her faculties to a good old age." The farmer's
adage, "An old cow for milk and a young hen for eggs," is a
good one. These remarks about stock-raising and feeding,
are as applicable to those who are grading stock, as to the
thorough-breeders. Selection of good stock from which to
breed, careful feeding and raising, are the main essentials for
improvement of cattle, be they native, grade or thorough-
bred. Important information from all sources and long con-
tinued observation and experience, must be our farmers' guide
in these matters. In this connection, I would refer to the
reports of the Secretary of our State Board of Agriculture,
for much very valuable information on stock-raising and feed-
ing.

The interest of thorough breeding in our State, has become
of vast importance. In 1853, twenty-one years since, there
were but seventy-five pure-bred Jerseys in the whole State of
Massachusetts ; now they number many thousand, and many
more of Jersey grades ; the same with the Ayrshires.

There is a vast amount of capital invested in dairy-stock in
our country. In the recent census of 1870, there were found
9, '000, 000 cows; the amount invested in this class of live-
stock alone cannot be less than $300,000,000. Among the
dairy products in our country, we find by the last census that
we sold 235,500,599 gallons of milk in its natural form, to
say nothing of the consumption at home ; at the same time,
514,092,683 pounds of butter was produced, and 53,492,153
pounds of cheese. These statistics are from the northern and
middle sections of our country alone. It is quite within
bounds to say that the butter-product alone will not fall
short of 600,000,000 pounds, and the cheese 200,000,000
pounds.

The amount of product of our dairies will annually amount

DAIEY STOCK. 105

to over $400,000,000, and the capital invested over $700,-
000,000.

This large interest should command the attention of the
political economist, and call to its aid the higher order of
intelligence and the application of the most consummate skill.

Alex. Macy, Jr., for the Committee.

14*

106 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

WORKING OXEN.

WORCESTER NORTH-WEST.

From the Report of the Committee.

The rapid decrease in the number of oxeu employed upon
the farms and elsewhere, within the limits of this society,
during the last decade, is too well known to need to be proved
by any argument or figures. That this decrease has been
beneficial to farmers as a class, or to communities, or has
been the result of sound judgment, when economy and ulti-
mate profits are taken into account, is not easily demon-
strated. The horse is not a solitary example of "getting fast"
withiu the time above mentioned, and " 2.14 " is by no means
the measure of the speed which the extravagant habits and
proclivities of the people have attained during the last ten
years. The general complaint of hard times, the compara-
tive "stand still" in most kinds of business, and the universal
distrust and forebodings for the immediate future, compel the
thoughtful to pause and consider the causes that have pro-
duced this condition of affairs, and if possible to devise some
means of escape.

Unquestionably, the horse is more pleasant to handle, and
able to perform more of many kinds of farm-work, than the
ox. Besides, there is a peculiar fascination about a good
horse, that attracts one's friendship and secures one's admira-
tion, that the ox does not possess. Nevertheless, when true
economy and actual profit are used as the measure of their
comparative value for farm labor, it will be found that the ox
is worthy of greater attention than he has lately received.
A good, well-trained pair of oxen will plough two acres of
ground in a day, and that is a good day's work for a pair of
horses. The keeping of oxen is usually hay, with little if
any meal. The harness consists only of the yoke, costing
about $6, and requiring no oiling nor cleaning, and will

WORKING OXEN. 107

last, if properly housed, almost indefinitely. The cost for
bedding and grooming and feed-cutters, blankets, etc., for the
ox, is comparatively nothing, and at the end of the year he is
quite as valuable as at the beginning. The relative expense of
the ox-cart, compared with that of the horse-cart, is also
largely in favor of the ox, while, all things considered, the
ox is the most valuable for this portion of farm-work.
Besides, the ox is rapidly gaining in value, if properly kept,
between the ages of four and seven years, and at the latter
'age, is quite as valuable as ever for beef. There is, more-
over, but little risk of loss from lameness or injury, and much
less liability to severe, acute attacks of disease. Contrast
with the yoke, the pair of harnesses, costing ten times as
much, and requiring from two to four dollars' yearly expense
in washing and oiling, and wearing out, on an average, in
about ten years. With the grooming and care of the ox,
compare the time spent on horses, the bedding and blankets,
the liability to lameness and disease (it being an admitted
fact that a perfectly sound horse is rare), and the fact, that
at last the ox is quite as valuable as ever, furnishing the best
of meat for our sustenance ; while the old horse, when his
usefulness is over, can only furnish his hide to the whip-
maker, to be used to torment his successors, and his carcase
for a grand feast for the crows and village curs.

Admitting all the pleasure to be derived from the horse,
the pride which the ownership of a good horse produces,
and the varied comforts derived from his patient labor,. still,
a close computation of profit and loss for farm labor will
doubtless show a heavy balance in favor of the ox. There is
one other point to be presented. Our chief and most profit-
able business in farming, is dairying, which readily furnishes
all the facilities for raising the best of oxen for our own use,
while we are largely dependent upon Vermont or the West
for our horses ; and the difference in raising money to pay
out three or four hundred dollars for a pair of horses, and
the raising a pair of steers, the cost of growing which upon
our farms is hardly noticed, will be more seriously felt and
noticed as times grow harder, or the dollar more nearly
approaches its real value.

In years gone by, the boys were given a pair of calves to

108 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

raise, and their play-days were spent in making yokes and
fixing small carts and sleds, or in training their steers.
These occupations brought them as pleasant recreation at
home as boys can now find in at'empting to bring the farm
horse down to a three-minute gait, or in teaching the colt to
become a trotter ; while the expense in the first case was
but little, and in the latter includes a "new harness " and
trottiug-wagon, to say nothing of the gradual loss of interest
in home and its labors, till at last the farmer's boy concludes
that farming is too slow business for him, and leaves the old
home and its occupants to others' care, while he seeks an
easy fortune elsewhere. Your committee are decidedly of the
opinion that the society is doing much good in using various
methods to encourage the raising and using of oxen, and
hope that the means and methods used will always be produc-
tive of as good results as in the present year.

SHEEP. 109

SHEEP.

WORCESTER NORTH-WEST.

From the Report of the Committee.

The greatest hindrance to sheep-raising, is that universal
nuisance — the dog. The committee think that ninety-nine
out of every one hundred of all the dogs in the State should
be destroyed, unless the State provides a home for the
wandering night-thieves, as in London, in 1873, where 30,-
000 were shut up until the owners claimed and paid for their
wandering canines.

"The dogs licked the blood of Naboth and fed upon Jezebel
by the wall of Jezreel." "The shepherd saw the lean dogs
beyond the wall hold over the dead their carnival, gorging
and growling on carcase and limb, and they were too busy to
bark at him."

In the civilized nations, there are supposed to be about
373,000,000 of sheep, and in the United States about 41,-
000,000, which average $2.28 per head. The largest number
in any one State is 6,250,000, in Ohio — average price, $1.93 ;
the smallest number is in Florida, 10,500 — average price,
$2; highest average price is in New Jersey, $4.42, and.
$4.41 in Connecticut ; in Texas and Missouri, average price
is $1.70. In Massachusetts there are about 156,000 sheep,
average price $3.28. There are in the United States a large
number of breeds of sheep. The Cots wold is generally pre-
ferred in the West, because of its good size and constitution,
and the length and quality of wool. In Vermont, the Lincolns,
which are of great size, are regarded as best to pasture on the
luxuriant blue-grass in the Atlantic States, where early lambs
are raised. The Southdowns and grade Merino give general
satisfaction, while some prefer the Leicesters, as first of all,
in early maturity and the amount of flesh for the food con-

110 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

sumed. For our locality, the Cotswokls for the hills, and the
Southdowns for the more level pastures, would be best, as the
former are more wandering and the latter more mild and quiet.
The shape of the sheep for mutton should be as the following : —

" Broad in the ribs and long in her rump,
With a straight, flat back and never a hump ;
Wide in her hips and calm in her eyes,
Fine in her neck and thick in her thighs."

The sheep was perhaps the first animal kept for the use of
man. Abel was a keeper of sheep ; so were Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob, and most of the ancient patriarchs. Job kept
14,000 sheep. Rachel kept her father's sheep, and the seven
daughters of the priest of Midian drew water for their father's
flocks. Moses, who was learned in all the wisdom of the
Egyptians, kept the flocks of Jethro, his father-in-law. David,
who killed the bear and lion, and was also a poet and a divine,
was a keepeT of sheep. The birth of our Saviour was announced
to the shepherds while watching their flocks by night.

The name of sheep signifies fruitfulness, abundance, plenty.

Sheep were symbols of purity and virtue ; they were
victims of sacrifices, and the type of redemption. Homer and
Virgil, in their writings, speak of the sheep with praise and
delight. Hercules and Ulysses were careful of their perpetua-
tion. Sheep-husbandry is doubtless the most profitable busi-
ness for the young farmer. He should not commence with a
large flock, but let it increase with his knowledge and expe-
rience. The smaller the flock, the greater the profit per cent,
annually. Large flocks crowd together and the air becomes
impure, and the animals are soon affected with some one of
many diseases which they are subjected to when not properly
cared for. One man in Nebraska had, in the fall, 3,000 head,
and lost in a year all but about 300, from a disease called the
" scab." There are many diseases among large flocks, but
the better plan is to keep a small flock, from 25 to 50, then
let them have good air, good keeping and care. Let a young
mau commence a flock with one ewe lamb out of Hale's or
Briirham's flock, and if the increase are twins, the first and
every year for ten years, one-half only every year being
males, there would be at the end of the ten years, 2,047 in
his flock, and at $5 each, would give $10,235 for his care.

SHEEP. Ill

The wool would pay for keeping. This is reckoning all
gain and no loss. One hundred per cent, compound interest
would double in a very short time. One hundred dol-
lars' worth of sheep, let it double the stock in four years,
would, if kept out at that rate, amount in twelve years to the

sum of $800.

T. Clark, for the Committee.

HAMPDEN.

From the Report of the Committee.

It is not our intention to attempt to describe the various
breeds and families of sheep, the principles of breeding or
their distinctive excellent qualities, but rather to call attention
to the practicability and profitableness of raising and keeping
sheep. Years ago, large numbers of them were kept, and
hardly a farm of any size but had its flock, for they were con-
sidered indispensable, both for the good of the farm and
the interest of the farmer; and notwithstanding they were
comparatively of a very inferior kind, they were always
regarded as being very profitable stock. They were gener-
ally small, bearing a coarse fleece, but had the quality of
being tough and hardy, and capable of enduring, with ease,
the rough and negligent treatment they received ; and it was
on account of these very qualities that they were profitable,
for they were easily kept, and not only served to clear up the
uncultivated, weedy, briery pastures, but they produced
enough wool, although of poor texture, to supply the house-
hold wants, and furnished a nutritious, if not a very palatable,
article of animal food.

In these early times the sheep were considered as necessary
as the neat-stock, as the homespun products of blankets and
clothing of our grandmothers can fully attest. But times
change, and the introduction and rapid improvements of
power-machinery in the manufacturing of woollen goods drove
the cumbersome hand-loom and spinning-wheel into the gar-
ret, introduced new fashions and finer varieties of fabrics, and
not only superseded the household product but called for a
better and finer quality of the raw material. The staple of
the old sheep was unfit for such purposes, and they were

112 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

obliged to yield the field to the finer-woolled sheep of foreign
importation. In a few years they were all gone, and those
who can recall the time will remember the large and petted
flocks of Spanish and French Merinos, together with a few of
the different varieties of English origin which took their place
along the meadows and upon the hillsides of the Connecticut
Valley.

In those days it was not the fashion to eat mutton ; the '
body of the sheep was of minor importance ; it was the fleece,
not only that of the fine and beautiful quality of the Merino,
but even the coarse and longer wool of the Southdown and
the Cotswold, which constituted the greater value of the sheep.
To this end, every means and method were tried and adopted
which would give to it the desired growth, weight and fine-
ness, and whatever would conduce to this, either in breeding,
raising and caring for these valuable and petted flocks, was
done, and as long as the wool commanded a good price, all
this labor, care and expense was remunerative, and often
greatly profitable. For nearly half a century this course was
followed, and not till about 1850 was any decided attempt
made to improve the different varieties of sheep, whereby the
good qualities of the fleece should be preserved, as well as to
procure a higher grade of excellence in the character and
quality of the animal itself, so as to produce a larger, more
round, compact, strong-limbed, vigorous sheep, — one which
could grow a large, heavy fleece, but would also afford a
good, fat mutton for the butcher. By careful and judicious
management this has been most successfully accomplished,
and, without doubt, to-day, no better breeds or families of
sheep can be anywhere found than in our own country, and
the breeder who may seek for greater improvement in fleece
and body, can here find to his hand the finest material for
further experiment.

The keeping, however, of large flocks of sheep, especially
in this State, or within the limits of our own county, princi-
pally for raising wool, is undoubtedly impracticable. Our
long, cold winters, small farms, contracted pasturage, make
it, unless under peculiarly advantageous circumstances, a kind
of husbandry which is both costly and unprofitable. It is out
of the question for our farmers to attempt to compete with

SHEEP. 113

the superior advantages afforded by the cheap and rich lands
of the West, and not only in this particular, but now, since
the acquisition of the States of Texas and California, in addi-
tion to their extensive plains, rich valleys and high mountain-
ranges, there is the decided advantage of a warmer, drier
climate, where the sheep can remain at pasture through nearly
if not quite the whole year, and where the cost of keeping is
principally comprised in the herding, salting and shearing of
the flock.

The raising of wool as the principal object must, therefore,
be confined to those still sparsely-popujated regions, where
land is cheap, pasturage extensive, and where the cost of
keeping can be reduced to almost a nominal fraction of what
is required on our higher-priced farms and higher value of
material, which must be artificially provided for at least five
and a half months of the year. The unavoidable consequence
of all this has already produced its legitimate result, and so
far as our own county, is concerned, the whole number of
sheep has gradually diminished till not more than a third of
the number remains. The large flocks of sheep which five and
forty years ago were found in this valley and upon the slopes
of the Berkshire hills, have disappeared, and only here and
there can now be found flocks of even moderate size. The
wool-producing sheep, like the "Star of Empire," have gone
towards the setting sun, and there, on those immense pasture-
ranges, aided by the natural advantages of locality and
climate, can be produced every variety and quality of wool,
and, beyond all competition, at the cheapest rates. The
paradise of the shepherd and his flock lies west of the
Alleghanies. Notwithstanding, however, this cheapness of
land, greater range of pasturage and small cost of keeping,
our farmers have Other compensatory advantages ; and, while
they cannot compete in the raising of wool, they have in the
increased market value of the mutton and ease of transporta-
tion, an advantage which can be turned to a most valuable
account. We cannot profitably produce wool, but we can raise
and fatten mutton, and for all that we do raise there is a
profitable and increasing demand. The nearness of the
market and the market values necessarily determine the
profitableness of all our farm products, and so soon as the-
' 15*

114 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

demand calls for it, the former will find his profit in •furnishing
the supply.

The use of mutton iii this country, as an article of food,
has only begun of late to be extensively appreciated and
valued ; beef and pork have been preferred, while the equally
nutritious and far more wholesome mutton has been rejected.
There is no kind of meat more nourishing and healthful than
this, and when a taste for it has once been formed, none more
palatable, and, pound for pound, it is more cheaply produced,
and wastes less in being prepared for food than beef. In
his report on Sheep Husbandry, Mr. Grinnell says that
" English chemists, by a series of careful experiments, find
that 100 lbs. of beef, in boiling, lose 26| lbs., and in roasting,
32 lbs., by evaporation and loss of soluble matter, juices,
water and fat. Mutton, on the other hand, lost in 100 lbs.,
by boiling, 21 lbs., and by roasting, 24 lbs. ; or, in another
form of statement, a leg of mutton costing, raw, 15 cents a
pound, would cost, boiled for the table, 18| cents per pound, '
while boiled fresh beef, at the same price, would cost 19^
cents;" so that, as a matter of economy, the mutton would
have the advantage. And, again, when we consider the
healthfulness of mutton, especially when compared with pork
as an article of diet, there can be no possible doubt of its
greater value. A well-fattened sheep will produce a pound
of fat meat which will go as far to support life as a pound of
pork, and that, too, more free from all those objectionable
properties which belong to pork. From the excellence and
wholesomeness of mutton as an article of animal food, from
its being more appreciated, and being of better quality on
account of the improvement of the quality and fattening of
the sheep, mutton is fast becoming one of the staple articles
of food, and already ranks by the side of beef, as of equal
dietetic value.

It is stated on good authority that consumption is less
prevalent amoug Jews than all other people, and it is a fact
that the Jew never eats pork, but always beef and mutton ;
and when we consider how largely the integrity of the health
depends upon the quality of the food, this immunity from
this terrible disease, whether owing in part or wholly from
the abstinence of the use of pork, furnishes a sufficient hint

SHEEP. 115

of the sanitary value of these two kinds of animal food, beef
and mutton, as articles of daily diet. Important, also, as this
is to the physical health, none the less so is it to the mental
and moral culture, which is greatly diminished in its inherent
force and outward vigorous application, because embarrassed
and fettered by the restraints of an infirm body. In these
days of Christian civilization and increased knowledge, the
means for cheaper and more wholesome methods in every
department of living should be constantly improving, and
whatever tends to this should be generously fostered and pro-
duced in abundance.

At present a large proportion of the mutton killed is con-
sumed in our large towns, cities and manufacturing villages,
but when our farmers acquire a taste for this kind of meat •
and begin to understand that the use of more fresh and less
of salted meats is more conducive to their health, and to learn
that the eating so largely, as very many of them do, of pork,
especially. of salt, fat pork, does not constitute a healthful
diet, or a very wise economy, they, too, will appreciate the
greater value of mutton, will become large consumers of it,
and will more frequently go to the pasture for their daily
meat than to the pork-barrel in the cellar.

From the fact of this increasing demand the question natu-
rally arises, "Whether our farmers can profitably raise and
fatten sheep for their mutton ? " We have no hesitancy in
answering the question decidedly in the affirmative, and we
have no doubt but that the larger part, if not all, the mutton
required for the market — both now and for a long time to
come — can be supplied on our home farms, and at remuner-
ative rates. When we consider the nearness of our markets,
the great benefit to the land, the amount of labor and cost of
keeping and the growing necessity for a mixed husbandry, we
are satisfied that there is no product of the farm, one year
with another, which returns a better remuneration than the
sheep; and when a practical view is taken of the conditions
and circumstances of our agricultural interests, it is difficult
to conceive why this form of husbandry has fallen into such
shameful neglect, for there are but few farms or farmers withiu
the limits of this Society but would find in it a mutual
advantage. Owing to the changes which have been brought

116 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

about by the circumstances and interests which gather around
other and different kinds of industries, the demands for special
products have led our farmers rather to give their attention
and confine their labor to one or two leading products rather
than to a mixed method of farming, and the consequence has
been that when a failure has occurred in the special crop, or
the market has been overstocked by the special product, the
result has been disastrous, for not only has it involved great
losses, but other and great disadvantages.

All things taken into the account, our mixed farming has
been altogether the most successful as well as the most profit-
able, and when the intimate connection existing between the
different industrial interests, as well as the advanced agricult-
ural condition, which has created a material change in agri-
cultural circumstances and interests, are duly considered, and
the mutual relations which bind them all together are rightly
appreciated, there can hardly be a doubt but that a propor-
tionally mixed method will more profitably lead to the accom-
plishment of the highest success in every department of farm
husbandry; but at any rate, if our. farmers will adopt and
confine their labors to specialties, among them let this of
sheep-culture be far more prominent.

In regard to the profitableness of sheep-culture, those who
have been practically and intelligently engaged in it for a
series of years bear ample testimony to its lucrativeness,
indirectly in the benefit to the land, and directly in the profits
arising from the lambs and wool. A very intelligent writer
upon this subject says : " Sheep are the most profitable of all
our domestic animals, in not only depasturing the cheap,
light, thin lands of the country, but they are justly beginning
to be considered an absolute necessity of good farming on
our choice grain-growing soils." M On the thin-soiled farms
sheep will enrich such lands far more rapidly than neat-stock,
and will clear them from those briery vines and pests of
which such lands are so prolific, while also exerting an observ-
able influence in banishing the coarse, wild, poor grasses, and
bringing in the sweeter and more nutritious ones. It was a
proverb of the Spaniard, "Wherever the foot of the sheep
touches, the land is turned into gold," the truth of which
all experience has most fully justified.

SHEEP. 117

And again says this writer : " Sheep husbandry will render
every variety of land most profitably productive, and at a less
annual expenditure for labor than any other branch of farming.
By reason of their rapid increase they will stock a farm well,
more expeditiously, and with far less outlay of money than all
other animals." In speaking of the value of their manure,
another writer remarks that "the manure of the sheep is far
more valuable than that of the horse or cow. It is not only
stronger, but it is better distributed, and distributed in a way
which admits of little loss. The small round pellets soon
work down among the roots of the grass, and are in a great
measure protected from the sun and wind, and rapidly
dissolving by the action of the dews and rains, they furnish
to it the best elements for its rich and abundant growth.
The winter manure is also of no less value, and where, an
abundance of bedding is furnished, a hundred sheep will,
between the 1st of December and the 1st of May, make at
least forty two-horse loads of manure ; and if fed on roots,
considerably more." "Their manure is of the most valuable
kind; and on high-priced land, requiring fertilizers, it cannot
be estimated at less than fifty cents per head per year, if not
still higher..

Harvey Wolcott, Esq., of Agawam, who has for many
years been engaged in sheep husbandry, in writing upon the
subject, says: "I have two pastures, twenty acres each. I
have kept sheep on one of them about seven years in ten,
and the other, three in ten. The one I kept sheep on the
most is worth twenty-five per cent, more than the one I pas-
tured with cattle. I have an orchard of four or five hundred
trees, of about five acres. When the apples are of the size
of walnuts I turn my sheep in. They pick up the green fruit
which has fallen to the ground, thereby destroying many
worms. I allow them to remain until the middle of July,
and I think they benefit the orchard more than one-half
the expenses of their pasturing through the season."

It is evident, then, from these statements, how exceedingly
valuable is the manure of the sheep ; as a fertilizer it surpasses
that of the cow and horse, and for most purposes is superior
to the mineral manures ; and when we consider, if the soil is
to be kept up to a high standard of fertility, in an economical

118 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

manner, that it must be done by the principal use of the
manure produced on the farm, it becomes a matter of no
small account to make use of every means to accomplish this
important end ; and for this purpose every farmer, therefore,
should keep a proportional number of sheep, with his other
stock. The wool, also, is an item of no small importance.
For the last twenty-five years the price of medium-fine
washed wool has averaged quite forty-five cents per pound,
and a good quality of sheep — and a farmer should keep no
other — will thus average, annually, wool worth at the least
the value of two dollars and a quarter per head.

But it is not alone for the manure or the wool that our
farmers should engage in this business ; another and a very
profitable item arises from the annual sale of the lambs. As
we have before said, it is the mutton from which comes the
largest profit. From its increasing demand there has also
been an increased market value, so that for the last fifteen
years no kind of meat, compared with the cost of raising,
keeping and fattening, has commanded such high prices.
The average price paid for lambs through the season, from
early June to October, has been ten cents per pound, live
weight, and some lots, which were earlier in market, sold as
high as twenty cents, live weight — so that lambs, at from three
to four months old, sold for an average of five dollars and fifty
cents per head, and the earlier lots for double that sum. The
annual yield of profit of the sheep, then, is about forty-five
per cent. , — an income certainly worthy the attention of every
good farmer.

For the- last ten years good Southdown sheep have been
worth six dollars a head. A flock of fifty ewe sheep would,
then, be worth three hundred dollars, so that, at fair estimates
of cost and yield, it will be seen that the percentage is as
stated ; viz. :

Dr.

Cost of keeping fifty sheep per year, . . . $230 50
For extra care when lambing and for shearing,' . 25 00
Interest on investment, 7 per cent., . . . 21 00

$276 50

SHEEP. 119

Cr.

$275

00

25

00

112

50

$412

50

276

50

By 50 lambs, at 10 cents, live weight, .
Mauiire, valued at 50 cents per head, .
Wool sold at 45 cents per pound (washed),

Deducting cost, etc., . . . .

i
Leaving balance of $136 00

which is a profit of forty-five per cent. From these considera-
tions, it is obvious that the sheep, for its care and cost, returns
proportionally as large a pecuniary profit as any of our form
animals.

In selecting sheep for raising and fattening for mutton,
there is probably no better than some one of the families
known as the "Downs;" they are hardy animals and well
adapted to the general character of our lands, the climate and
our methods of farm husbandry. Professor Wilson says of
them : "Though fine in form and symmetrical in appearance,
they are very hardy, keeping up their condition on moderate
pastures, and readily adapting themselves to different districts
and systems of farming ; being very docile, they thrive well
even when folded on the artificial pastures of an arable farm.
They fatten easily, the meat being of fine quality and always
commanding the highest price in the market. The ewes are
very prolific and are excellent mothers, commonly rearing
from 120 to 130 lambs to the 100 ewes. The fleece produces
the most valuable of our native wools, and washed, averages
from five to six pounds in weight."

Of the other families of the same breed of sheep, such as
the Shropshire, Oxfordshire and Hampshire Downs, Professor
Wilson speaks in equal terms of commendation, and, un-
doubtedly, with skilful and intelligent crossing in breeding,
even these could be improved in every desirable quality, so
that our farmers, by their dexterous methods, shall become as
celebrated in their improvements and as distinguished as the
famous English breeders, to whom we are indebted for these
exceeding valuable families of sheep. So far, then, as relates

120 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

to the kinds of sheep we would choose for our purpose, none
better than these of which we have spoken could be selected ;
and for adaptedness of locality, of plain, of hill and valley
and character of soil, none better could be found than is em-
braced within the limits of this agricultural district. There
is no part of it but is exceedingly well adapted to sheep
husbandry. On both sides of the Connecticut, away on the
east, across, and on the plains of the Wilbraham highlands,
and on the west as it stretches its undulating way to the very
summits of the Berkshire hills, — all this country is admirably
suited for this purpose, and it seems as though the finger of
Divine Providence pointed significantly to these grand pasture
ranges, these broad plains and fertile valleys, as the natural
home, of the shepherd and his gentle flocks.

From these natural conditions, .one would expect to find
these hill-sides and valleys abounding in flocks of fine and
valuable mutton sheep, and would suppose that the intelligent
farmers of this region would appreciate the great advantages
to be derived from them, and upon every farm more or less
of them would be found. This, however, is not the case, and
it is rare to find any flocks, even of moderate size, within the
limits of the county.

Objections are raised against the keeping of this kind of
stock as being less profitable than the dairy ; that the keeping
of cows for their milk and butter, together with the raising
of tobacco, yields a larger return ; and then, also, the constant
loss and injury to the flocks of sheep by dogs, interferes
materially with the success of this kind of husbandry. The
profitableness of the production of milk and tobacco depends
mostly upon the surrounding conditions and circumstances.
Our valley farmers, whose nearness to market admits of a
ready and profitable sale of their milk, and whose laud is
well adapted for raising tobacco,- undoubtedly oftentimes
realize large profits from these products, and yet even on
this account we fail to see how it need prevent the keeping a
suitable number of good sheep, or how they would tend to
diminish the profits of the farm. In r gard to those who are
more distant from the market, and whose milk must first be
converted into butter or cheese before it is sold, and whose
land is more hilly and not adapted to the culture of tobacco,

SHEEP. 121

such farmers cannot undertake this kind of farm business ;
and hence, for them, sheep husbandry would especially be
largely profitable.

The dogs, we admit, constitute a serious objection, — but
such an objection ! Is it not disgraceful to the intelligence
and good sense of every thinking farmer, and does it not
become his duty to make his influence so felt, that there
shall be fewer dogs and more sheep ? " Those who have been
engaged in sheep culture are fully aware of the disastrous
effects to a flock of sheep of .the attacks of savage dogs.. It
is not alone the value of the sheep which are killed or maimed
(for it is often the smaller part of the loss which is sustained) ;
it is the moral effect produced upon the whole flock by the
intense fright and excitement, resulting in a diminished
thrift and increasing timidity, which is hone the less formida-
ble be'cause difficult of estimation." There is no animal so
timid and so sensitively alive to rough and harsh treatment
of any kind as the sheep, and on this account a flock once
harried by a dog is sometimes well-nigh ruined. Incapable
of defending themselves, it becomes a constant source of
solicitous care and watchfulness to prevent the flock from
being worried by savage dogs, and so great has this care
become that, on this account alone, very many farmers have
abandoned the business.

In this agricultural district there are licensed 3,535 male
dogs, and 1,585 female dogs, while there are probably at
least one-fourth as many more not licensed, making an aggre-
gate of about 4,418 male dogs and 1,981 female dogs; and
all told, of 6,399 dogs, which is one dog to less than two sheep,
furnishing a remarkably brilliant and intelligent public esti-
mate of the value of the two animals. The tax paid for
these dogs for 1874, amounted to $7,894, and the amount
paid for the damages which they committed was $1,023, and
there was returned to the several towns, $6,850. This latter
sum was generally appropriated by the towns for library
and school purposes, which is about the only redeeming
feature of this dog business. It is very questionable, how-,
ever, whether this constantly increasing number of dogs
(although reaping a tax therefrom even for such purposes) is
not, after all, a greater evil than good, and whether it would

16»

122 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

not conduce more to the better interests of the community to
dispense with the dogs and have in their place other kinds of
animals, which would produce good, wholesome, nutritious
food, whereby the chances of having sound minds would be
greatly increased. No doubt, there are exceptional cases,
where in many ways the dog is of value to his owner, but, as
a writer remarks, "Recognizing all this, and stripping the dog
question of all romance and poetry, every Candid man who
looks upon the actual loss produced on sheep throughout the
country, amounting to a million and a quarter of dollars
annually, must be forced to admit that the balance of evil
against the dog far outweighs all his benefit."

It certainly is unwise to -allow so valuable an agricultural
interest to languish, if not to become destroyed, merely for
the sake of these worthless curs ; and if farther and more
stringent laws are needed for their reduction and restraint,
they should be speedily enacted. This matter lies in the
hands of our formers, and to them we are to look for that
kind of legislation necessary for the protection of this impor-
tant interest.

Our limited space forbids entering upon the subject of
breeding, feeding and general care of the sheep ; but in
closing, we would urge upon all our farmers the serious
consideration of again turning their attention to this now
neglected kind of stock culture, as being beneficial to their
lands as well as profitable in its money value, and still more
to the great sanitary importance of furnishing both for them-
selves and the community a greater abundance of this whole-
some mutton food.

P. LeB. Stickney, for the Committee.

POULTRY. 123

POULTRY.

BRISTOL.

From the Report of the Committee.

NEW BREEDS AND HOW TO PRODUCE THEM.

As the society offers a premium for any new breed not
before owned in the county, a few remarks upon new breeds
and their production may not be out of place, especially as
some confusion seems to exist in the minds of not a few as
to what constitutes a pure breed. The term pure breed is
applied to that which will produce offspring exactly like
the parents in all the leading characteristics. Probably
nearly every breed of fowls now extant has been produced
by crossing, accidental or otherwise in the first instances,
and these by a system of judicious selection afterwards.

We are not of the number of those who believe in the
ingenious but improbable theories, of Darwin. The princi-
ple of selection, perseveringly carried out, is productive of
wonderful results, but there is a limit beyond which prog-
ress is impossible, and it seems to us that the burden of
proof rests with these philosophers till they can show hybrids
which are capable of producing their like continually and not
exceptionally. Neither do we believe with another learned
professor, that the strong desire of the original Bengal tiger
to conceal himself while crawling through thickets and cane-
brakes, produced the stripes on his body. If it did, why,
we may ask, did not that desire go a little further, and pro-
duce a skin of a pea-green tint, Which would have been a
much better protection ?

It seems to Us nearly as improbable that the diminutive
Bantams and the gigantic races of Asia alike sprang from the
jungle-fowl, though it is quite likely that two original breeds

124 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

— such as the Wild Mountain Malay and the jungle-fowl —
have produced all the sub-varieties. A cross, we have said,
may be accidental in the first instance, but judicious selection
afterwards is necessary, for generations, to overcome the
tendency to throw back or produce chickens unlike the
parents, but like some ancestors. The necessities of com-
merce, the transfer of large numbers of emigrants from differ-
ent countries to places where fowls (the result of one of these
accidental causes) have been isolated, and the caprice or
fancy of their owners, may be sufficient to account for the
gradual formation of distinct breeds.

. And here opens a vast field before us, which makes the
breeding of poultry a fascinating and intellectual pursuit,
which is worthy of the attention of all who have the leisure
and taste to investigate this department of natural history.

To poultry-fanciers the farmer is indebted, though- he
may not know it, for the vastly superior poultry of the
present time ; for, except in very rare instances, it is only
those who have the perseverance and leisure to follow out
a series of logical experiments.

And yet these experiments are so interesting that we
wonder that more of our farmers have not turned their atten-
tion to them.

By way of illustration, let us propose an experiment,
which we are , not aware has been thoroughly tried. The
White Cochins, for example, are a large, fine race, weigh-
ing from eight to twelve pounds and upwards, very hardy, and
particularly good as winter layers. The White Leghorns
are unsurpassed layers, except in the coldest months of win-
ter, but so small that, as poultry, they are a failure, rarely
weighing, dressed, over three and a half pounds. Now why
would not a cross of these breeds produce, by careful selec-
tion, a breed that would combine the excellences of both
and breed true ? We have no doubt of the success of the
experiment, though it might take ten years of careful selec-
tion to perfect it. The Green or Silver Dorking is, with-
out doubt, the best of the table fowls, and also is an excel-
lent layer, but has one drawback, at least in this country, — a
liability to roup and a certain delicacy of constitution. Now
cross this with the Dark Brahma, one of our hardiest fowls,

POULTRY. 125

whose markings are very similar to the Dorking, and follow
this out, and the result will probably be an improved Dor-
king, nearly as hardy as the Dark Brahma and superior to
that breed in fullness of breast and laying qualities, having less ■
tendency to set.

These are merely hints as to what may be' done in one or
two directions ; but when we consider the immense variety of
form, size and plumage which our poultry already represents,
the possibilities are great. What a field it offers for the
exercise of analysis and the deductive faculties ; what charm-
ing avenues it offers to the {esthetic taste in the department
of color alone ! Those who lately saw our magnificent show,
ranging from the Partridge and snow-white Cochins, through
all the gradations of Hamburg, Game and French varieties
to the exquisite little Duckwing Game Bantams, will not find
it difficult to answer.

In making the above suggestions, we would not be under-
stood as depreciating the vajue of our standard breeds, and
we would advise persons who have not the time to devote to
these experiments to stick to the pure breeds mainly, for we
believe the profits are much more certain.

POULTRY-KEEPING PROFITABLE.

"We never made so much money in our lives from any
poultry as from those of which the first dozen of eggs cost
at least $5. There is no investment on the farm which
will pay so we'll as the poultry, when judiciously managed.
To illustrate this we transcribe a statement which has just
appeared in the " Poultry Bulletin. " Mr. W. M. Tuthill, of
Long Island, gives the following : —

Dr.

To stock on hand, March 1st, 1873, . . . $75 00
Feeding the same and their produce, . . . 173 75

$248 75

Cr.

By stock on hand, March 1st, 1874, . . . $150 00

524 dozen eggs sold, . . . . 118 09

151 ducks sold, . . . . . . 153 10

. $38

64

42

60

$502 43

248

75

126 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE.

By 74 chicks sold, .

39 fowls sold, ........

Deduct expenses, .

Leaves b.ilance of profit, ..... $253 68

By analyzing the above, it will be seen that Mr. Tuthill did
not get fancy prices for any of his stock ; his fowls averag-
ing a little over $1 each, and his chickens a trifle over 50
cents each, while his eggs average about 26 cents per dozen.
From 75 fowls he would make at least 12 pounds of manure,
which would more than pay interest on stock and fixtures.
Now let us suppose that the fowls of Mr. Tuthill had been
some pure breds of some of the popular breeds. It is not
extravagant to say that he would have realized at least $2
each for his poultry, and at least 50 cents per dozen for
his eggs, counting the picked trios, which would bring at least
$10, and the number of eggs, for which he would probably
get from $3 to $5 per dozen.

THE DOMESTICATION OF WILD BREEDS.

This is a subject which has not yet received the attention
it deserves. Domestication has produced from the wild
Mallard that peerless duck, the Rouen, which is double the
weight of the former. There is no reason to doubt that
similar results may not yet be obtained by the domestication
of many other varieties, as, for instance, the Canvas-back,
the Eider, Pinktail, etc., etc. The Brant and Barnacle geese
have not yet been fairly tried ; and some of the Grouse family
of the West and North-west, some of which, as the Black
Grouse of Nebraska, are said to weigh nearly four pounds,
may yet come to be classed among the favorites of our poultry-
yards. We hope the daily widening interest which is becom-
ing more evident among us will yet lead to rich results in

this direction.

Edmund Rodman, Chairman.

INDEX

TO THE SECRETARY'S REPORT,

Page

Action of frost on trees • * 239

Agricultural College, report of committee on, . . . . . . 317, 321

Agricultural College, value of, as an experimental station, ■ . . . 321

Amount of pork in 100 pounds of corn, 132, 133, 134, 135

Analysis of soil of salt marshes, 338, 339

Annual business meeting of the Board, 315, 392, 401

Apparatus for testing the lifting power of the squash, description of, . . 219

Apple, paper on the, 343, 348

Arnold, Prof. L. B., lecture by, . . . 10, 13, 17, 21

Ashes as ii manure for apple-trees, 344

Abattoir fertilizer, value of, 380

Barley-sprouts as feed for milch cows, '. 202

Best food for milch cows, 26

Board of Agriculture, annual meeting of, 315, 392, 401

Board of Agriculture, meeting of, at Westfield, 5, 47, 128

Bone-black waste, value of, as a fertilizer, 377

Bones, ground, value of, as a fertilizer, 377, 378, 379

Breeding and management of swine, essay on, 12S, 135, 145

Breeding, in and in 189, 190, 198, 200

Breeding of pigs, profitable 130, 199, 202

Brighton abattoir fertilizer, value of, • . 380

Butter, cause of specks in, 43, 44

Butter, heating milk for, 45

Butter, manufacture and management of, .... 20, 21, 25, 29, 40, 43, 46

Cabbages as food for stock, 118, 119, 126

Carbonate of lime and its action on soils, 50

Carrot, value and cultivation of the, • . 113, 125

Cattle Commissioners, report of, . 313, 315

Carnivorous plants . . . . . . 214, 215

Cellular development, 149, 151, 171

Chadbourne, P. A., essay by, . 395, 403

Charleston, S. C, phosphate beds, lecture on, 47, 50, 55, 64

Cheese and its manufacture, .17,18,29,30,31,42,44

Cheese made without rennet, . 23, 28, 29

Chemistry and its teachings 47, 56, 74, 75, 80, 141, 143, 352, 384

Churning milk, best method of, 19,20,21,38,40,44

Circulation of sap, 224, 225, 227, 231, 240, 250, 261

Clark, Prof. W. S., lecture by : . .' 204, 248, 288

Commercial fertilizers and their value, 83, 84, 141 , 352, 384

Composition of sap, 259

Concentrated fertilizers and their value, ..... 83, 84, 141, 352, 384

Concord and Sudbury Meadows, 404, 406, 408

Constituents of Charleston phosphates, .51, 376

Cooling of milk, manner of, 35

Country meeting of the Board at "Westfield, 5, 47, 128

128 INDEX TO PART FIRST.

rage

Cows, percentage of, to the population, 10, 11

Cream, greatest percentage at the last of the milking, 16, 17

Crossing in breeding, importance of, 189, 190

Cucumber culture under glass, 106, 107

Dairy products of the United States, 11,12

Depth to set milk for cream, '. . . 38, 39

Description of the Charleston, S. C, phosphate nodules, . . . . 60, 61

Drainage and Health, 404, 408

Effect of air on cream 41

Effects of girdling trees, 236, 237

Elements essential to plant-growth, 47

Elements of milk, . . . 13, 14, 15, 16

Embryological facts 161, 162, 163.

English turnips and their cultivation, 116

Essential oils of grasses flavor milk 19

Essex pigs and their value, . . . " . . ... . . 136

Experiments, how they should be conducted, . . . . . 70, 71* 82, 84, 205

Experiments in feeding pigs, ...".•... 132, 133, 134, 135, 140
Experiments with fertilizers, 69, 73, 78, 80, 88, 141, 142, 196

Fairs of different societies, time of, fixed, 350

.Fats and their action on milk, . ;. 22,23,24

Feed for milch cows, . . .. '. . . . 26, 27, 28, 29, 33, 37, 118, 119, 202

Feeding pigs, experiments in, : 132, 133, 134, 135

Feeding qualities of turnips, . 117

Fermentation and its action,- . 14, 15, 16, 18, 24

Fermcntating manures, heat of, utilized, 93, 94

Fertilizers, experiments with 69, 73, 78, 80, 88, 141, 142, 143, 352

Fertilizers, report of state inspector of, 351, 392

Fish-scraps and fish-guano and their value as a fertilizer, . , 371

Flavor of the milk affected by the food of the cow, . . 113, 119, 121, 127, 128

Flint, C. L., lecture by '.. . . . . .47,50,55,64

Floating curds, 36

Formation of salt marshes, how accomplished, 328, 329

Frost, action of, on trees, ■ ■• 239

Garget, how induced, 28

Generation, methods of, 153, 157, 160, 166, 167

German potash salts, analyses of, 352

Girdling trees, effect of, 236,237,238

Glass and its properties, 88, 89

Glass-houses for winter gardening, 88, 90, 104

Glass-houses, mode of constructing 97, 98, 99, 100, 103

Glass-houses, proper angle of roof of, . . . . . . . . 94, 95

Glass-houses, proper site for, ( 93, 94, 96

■ Globules ki milk and their characteristics, 20,21,25,26,34

Goessmann, Prof. C. A., report by, 351, 392

Goessmann, Prof. C. A., paper by, 328, 342

Grafting, how it is done by nature, . . • 241, 243

Grasses found in salt marshes, 332, 334, 336

Ground bones, value of, as a fertilizer, " 377, 378, 379

Guano, product and value of, . . • 49, 361, 366, 370

Hadwen, O. B., essay by 110, 118

Harris, Joseph, essay by, 129, 135, 145

INDEX TO PART FIRST. 129

Page
Haverhill selected for the next public meeting of the Board, 1875, . . 350

Heating glass-houses, modes of, 92,93,95,101,108

Heat of fermenting manures utilized, 93, 94

History of glass-house gardening, 89, 90, 91

History of the apple, 343

Importance of a knowledge of the value of commercial fertilizers, 83, 84, 141, 380, 386, 392

Importance of the dairy interests, 11, 12

In-breeding, 189, 190, 198, 200

Jerseys, characteristics of milk of, 22-

Lawes and Gilbert's experiments, 133, 134, 135, 142, 143

Law of inheritance in breeding, 145, 150, 155, 165

Leaves of mangolds, should they be fed to stock, 118, 124, 125

Leaves of plants, functions of, 213

Leonard, N.T., address by, 7,8

Lettuce and its culture in glass-houses 94,104,105,108,110

Life, origin of, in the cell, 150, 151, 180, 192

Lifting power of the squash, 208, 210, 220

Management of orchards, 345, 347

Mangolds, varieties, culture and value of, Ill, 113, 124

Mangolds, yield of, to the acre, 113

Manure, value of, from different foods, 139, 140, 196

Manure, value of, from the pig, 140, 141, 142, 194

Marl and its characteristics, 49, 50, 51, 194

Marl-beds of Charleston, S. C , and vicinity, 50, 51, 52

Marshfield, description of marshes in, 385

Mental faculties of animals, essay on the, 395, 403

Mercurial gauges, 251, 273

Methods of reproduction 166, 167, 168

Milk, elements of, 13, 14, 18, 19, 22, 23, 24, 26

Milk, flavor of, affected by the food of the cow, . . 27, 113, 119, 121, 127, 128

Milking, proper way to conduct, 17, 18

Milk, lecture on, 10, 13, 17, 21

Modes of heating glass-houses, 92, 93, 95, 101

Navassa phosphate and its value 373

New Jersey and her agricultural resources, 193, 194

Oleo-margarine and its characteristics, 21, 23, 25

Orchards, management of, 345, 347

Origin of the Charleston, S. C, Phosphate beds, 57

Percentage of water in wood and bark of trees • . 288

Peruvian guano, value of, as a fertilizer 361, 365, 368, 370

Petrifaction, process of, • 62, 63

Philosophy of breeding, essay on, 145, 150, 155, 165, 180, 192

Phosphate beds of Charleston, S. C, lecture on, 47, 50, 55, 64

Phosphatic nodules, process of formation of, 61, 62, 63

Phosphates, use of, as a fertilizer, 66, 67, 72, 196, 376

Pigs, breeding of, profitable 130, 199, 202

Pig-manure, value of, 141, 194, 196, 199

Plant-food, • 47, 77

Plant-life, phenomena of, . 204, 248, 288

17*

130 INDEX TO PART FIRST.

Page

Pork as a food, 195

Potash and its value, .83, 352, 357

Pork, amount of, in 100 pounds of corn, 132, 134, 135

Pressure of sap, 221,224,230,231,242,247

Propagation of the apple, . 344

Proper angle of roofs of glass-houses 94, 95

Proportion of gain in weight to weight of food given pigs, . . 132, 136, 197, 199
Pruning apple-trees, 347

Quality of food given the cow affects quality of milk, . . . .19, 26, 29, 37

Rennet, treatment of, . 24, 46

Pcoot-crops and their cultivation, essay on, 110, 116

Roots of plants, functions of, 209

Roots of plants, lifting power of, . . . 223

Ruta-bagas and then cultivation, 115, 116

Salt marshes of Massachusetts, paper on, 328, 342, 403

Sap, facts in relation to, 224, 225, 229, 230, 231, 242, 247, 259

Soluble phosphoric acid, cost and value of, 387

South Carolina phosphates and their value, 47, 50, 55, 64, 376

Sperm and spermatozoa 155, 156, 157, 160, 166, 167

Squash, lifting power of the 207, 208, 210, 219, 220

Stassfurt potash-salts, analyses of, . 353, 354, 355

Stockbridge, Prof. Levi, report by, 69, 80, 88

Strong, Wm. C, lecture by, 88, 90, 104

Sturtevant, Dr. E. L., essay by, 145, 150, 155, 165, 180, 192

Sulphate of potash, value of, as a fertilizer, 358

Superphosphate and its value, 383

Swedish turnips for cows and horses, value of, 122, 123, 124

Swine, essay on breeding and management of, 128, 135, 145

Tables of record of sap-flow of different trees, ■ . . . . . 267

Tables of- record of fluctuations of mercurial gauges, 273

Taints in milk and their expulsion, 18, 19, 30, 31

Texas cattle fever, ' 6, 313, 315

Transplanting apple-trees, 346

Trees and their life, 236, 240, 241, 247

Turnips, cultivation and value of, 115, 116, 123, 124

Udder, construction of the, 16, 17, 18

Utilization of the heat of fermenting manures, 93, 94

Value of manure from different foods, 139

Value of pig-manure, 141

Value of commercial fertilizers as sold, 83, 84, 352,, 361

Water in the wood and bark of trees, percentage of, . s . . . 288

Westfield, industries of, 8, 10

Westneld, public meeting of the Board at, 6, 47, 128

Winter gardening and glass structures, lecture on, 88, 90, 104

Wood, formation of, in trees, .... 235, 236

Yield of mangolds to the acre, ... , . . . , , . . 113

I^DEX TO ABSTRACT.

Page

Adams, John Quincy, address by, 50, 57

Adams, P. D., statement of, 80

Advantage of near markets, 4

Amount of capital needed for success in farming, 1, 6, 9

Ayrshires as dairy stock, • . 94, 95, 96

Bone dust and its value as a fertilizer, 27, 28

Books, value of, 35, 36

Boston, increase of population of, 51

Bradford, A. S., report by, 63, 66, 67, 69

Capital in farming, necessity for, . . . 1, 6, 9

Care should be exercised in selecting pear-trees, 70, 71

Coming farmer, address on the, 50, 57

Commercial fertilizers and their value 27, 28, 29, 30

Dairy farming and its importance, 6, 55

Dairy stock, statements on, 92, 94, 96, 98

Dewey, Orville, address by, 31,35,38

Dutch cattle, 97, 99, 100

Dwarf pear-trees and their value, 70, 73

Economy in farming essential, 1 J 2, 22, 23

English hay and its value, 67

Farmer's club, importance and value of, 35

Farm improvements, reports on, . 58, 61, 65, 69

Farming in the East and West compared, 2

Farming interests, how affected by the currency, 10, 15, 21

Farms which are most profitable 4, 40, 41, 53

Fearing, Albert, statement of, 85

Fertilizers, value of different, 4,6,27,29,53,66,67

French, J. D. W., statement of, 94

Gold and silver as reliable representatives of value, 12,15,21

.Goodman, Richard, address by, 39, 46, 49

Grade stock, report on, '. 103, 105

Harden, B., statement of, . 91

Henrick, H. G., statement of, 96, 97

Hill, Mark F., statement of, 89

Horse-trotting at agrieultm-al fairs, 25, 26

How farming pays, address on, 39, 42, 46, 49

How our lands should be worked, 2, 4, 7, 8, 22, 53, 57, 65, 66

Hurd, Y. G., statement of, 79

Importance of good roads, 23, 24

Improvement of pastures, 61

Improvement of sand plain, 60,61

Improving wet meadow and swamp lands, 58

Indian corn, statements on, 88r 89, 90, 91

Jerseys as dairy stock 92, 93

Jerseys, statements on, , 92, 94

132 INDEX TO ABSTRACT.

Kenrick, John, report by, 70, 75

Killam, O. P., statement of, 88

Lane, Augustus, report by, 100, 102

Latham, Galen, statement of, 63

Lathers, Richard, address by . . . 22, 26, 30

Leonard, Spencer, statement of, 87

Loomis, B. B., statement of, 61

Macy, Alex., Jr., report by, 103, 105

Management of farms, address on 22, 26, 30

Management of grape-vines, 76, 77

Mangolds, statements on, 82, 85

Manures and cultivation for pear-trees, 73, 74

Mattoon, statements of, . . . 60, 82

Merrill, S. A. statement of, 81

Near markets, advantage of having, 4, 53

Onions, statements on, 79, 80, 81

Pastures, improvement of, 61, 62

Pears and their cultivation 70, 72, 75

Pears, varieties of, adapted to certain soils 70, 72

Peat, value of, as a fertilizer, ....*. 66, 67

Poultry, management of, 123, 126

Profit in farming 4, 40, 41, 52, 53

Reclaimed meadows, statement on, 63

Resumption of specie payment, how to be accomplished, .... 21

Roads, importance of having good, 23

Rodman, E., report by 123, 126

Root-crops, statements on, 79, 83, 87

Rotation of crops, importance of, 7, 8, 9

Ruta-bagas, statements on 82

Saltonstall, H., statement of, 92

Sand plain, improvement of, ' . . 60

Seelye, Julius H., address by 10, 15, 21

Sewage, importance of utilizing, 53

Sheep, 109, 111, 113, 120, 122

Shorey, John L., address by, . . . 1, 6, 9

Soiling and its value, 55'

Stickney, P. -Le B., report by, Ill, 122

Stock-raising and its limits in New England, 6, 7

Swampy land, difference in improvable value of, 68, 69

Thomas, Albert, statement of, 86

Transplanting trees, how it should be done, 73

Varieties of pear to grow, 70, 72

Variation in value of English hay, 67, 68

Vineyards and their management, 75, 78

Vocation of farming, address on, 31, 36, 38

Ware, B. P., statement of, 96

Whiting, T. E., statement of, 99, 100

Whiton, David, statements of, 85, 86

Why our young men leave the farm, 32

Wood, Lewis, statement of, 90

Working oxen, 106, 107, 108

mm /art