114 



A writer on this subject, in the Patent Office Reports, says, sheep are to be 

 admired for various reason?, for the warm and healthy artiele of clothing they 

 produce, for their valuable mutton, for their ability to produce two crops in one 

 year, viz., wool and lambs, for their quietness, and for various other reasons. 

 Unlike other animals they have no disposition to injure one another, the stronger 

 will not oppress the weaker, and the stranger may eat at the same rack. In this 

 respect what a valuable lesson is taught the shepherd by his flock, a sheep may 

 die in debt to his purchaser, but it cannot to him who raised it. The reason for 

 this is plain. It pays all charges once a year, and the moment it has settled for 

 arrearages it commences to accumulate at a rate which is sure not to fail where- 

 withal to meet the next annual settlement, and die when it may, it always 

 leaves a fair compensation to its owner for what little it has consumed of hia 

 substance. Notwithstanding the opinion of some men to the contrary, sheep are 

 a greater benefit to a farm than any other stock I have ever kept. They wiU 

 turn thorns, and briars, and noxious weeds, (curses pronounced on Adam and his 

 seed,) into useful substances, and in the end cause them to become extinct and 

 valuable grass to grow in their stead. — Thus do they lighten the toils of man — 

 thus do they turn the curse into a double blessing — yea a treble ; his thorny fields 

 into green rich pastures, into warm clothing for his body, and into wholesome 

 food for his subsistence. 



One other subject before I close, it is this, I would suggest to you the propriety 

 of petitioning the legislature for a law establishing a State Board of Agriculture ; 

 also an Agricultural Board in each of the several counties, and to provide by law 

 for the collection of the Agiicultural Statistics of the State, through the instru- 

 mentality of the town assessors. 



The great importance of information to be thus derived must be admitted by 

 all. It would give us the condition of our whole State, and the comparative 

 advantages of each county. 



By this knowledge spread out before us, we could more readily avail ourselves 

 of the benefits enjoyed by our sister counties, and impart to them any peculiar 

 benefit possessed by our own. 



From the several town reports a table could be compiled by the county board, 

 and by them transmitted to the state board, exhibiting the principal products of 

 the county, the number of acres devoted to the several crops, the quantity of 

 seed per acre, and the cost of production from these data and others given ; the 

 profit derived from each crop could be ascertained and noted, both per acre and 

 per bushel ; this ta'ble should also embrace the number of horses, cattle, sheep 

 and swine. 



Vai'ious valuable inferences might be drawn from a careful examination of such 

 a table, which would cost the State comparatively but a trifle. 



