42 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



food as befor2,bufc also that it be done by fewer bands ; consequently improved 

 methods of culture and labor-eaving implements sliould be sought for with an 

 eagerness not before indispensably requisite, and if by any means a greater 

 supply of fertilizing materials can be drawn from muck beds, from marl pits, 

 from the sea-shore, or by economizing home resources, no available means to 

 this end should be neglected. 



A warrantable hope for continued prosperity so far as depends on a sufEcieat 

 supply of food, should be accompanied with corresponding efforts. It is the 

 duty of every farmer to grow as much food as he can, both for man and beast ; 

 and although under ordinary circumstances it is not so good policy to extend 

 the breadth of land sown and planted, as to improve the cultivation of a 

 smaller surface, it may be better in some cases at this peculiar juncture. 



The condition of farms and farmers in Maine is very different to-day from 

 •what it was twenty-five years ago, when wheat from Germany was ground at 

 Gardiner and bought and eaten by the farmers of Kennebec Valley, and toler- 

 ably poor wheat it was too. 



It is true that for a few years past we have been able to grow potatoes or 

 other crops with such facility that they may be profitably exchanged for corn 

 and grain grown in other States ; but the ability of Maine to grow her own 

 breadstuffs, in favorable seasons, and with good culture, is not generally 

 known or appreciated. Repeatedly have eighty, and even a hundred bushels 

 of Indian corn been produced on an acre in our State. As for wheat, the 

 •' Abstract of Returns'" from Agricultural Societies, published in connection 

 with the Secretary's Report for the year 18G0, show the crops which obtained 

 the first premium in several counties were as follows : 



Sagadahoc, 2G bushels per aero ; Waldo, 28 ; Aroostook, 29 ; Oxford, 29 ; 

 Lincoln, 30 ; Androscoggin, 30 ; Somerset, 32 ; York, 38 ; Kennebec, 40 ; Cum- 

 berland, 40; Franklin, 42 ; Penobscot, 51. These are hv no means to be un- 

 derstood as the average crops, nor do we quote them as inviting a sudden and 

 great increase of breadth to be devoted to wheat or other cereals. They are 

 mentioned simply to draw attention to what has been done, and may be done 

 again under similar circumstances. That season was unusually favorable for 

 grains, and the wheat midge did little injury. In this connection we may be 

 allowed to remark that there is some reason to hope that parasitic insect ene- 

 mies of the wheat midge are multiplying, and may increase to such an extent 

 as to keep this destroyer of the wheat crop in cheek, as tlicy are known to do 

 in Europe, from whence the midge was imported, and that this scourge, like 

 the potato plague, may have mostly passed I)y. On the other hand, we can- 

 not predict to what extent the grain aphis which appeared so abundantly last 

 year may again visit our fields. 



Besides food we need clothing. Sheep husbandry should have increased 

 attention. We ought to grow more wool, and we can do so with profit. We 

 might have done so in any of the years past. tSheep husbandry offers many 

 advantages, not the least of which is the steady improvement of lands. This 

 subject has been so often before the Board that we only remark that the chief 

 hindrances to its prosperity have been the ravages of dogs, and the Quctua- 

 tions in the tariff, which have seriously affected the price of wool. Among 

 the uncertainties of the future, we may now reckon with a tolerable degree of 

 certainty on a tariff wiiicli, while it may be adapted to yield the most revenue, 

 will also afford a sufficient and steady i)rotection to home products. 



In looking about, we find that several agricultural products which yield a 

 more ample remuneration to the producer than nriny others are greatly neg- 

 lected in this State. Of the cheese consumed l)y tlio:*e wlio are not farmers, 

 probably not less than nine-tenths is brought in from other States. More 

 butter by far, and better too, is imported than is sold to go out. We are in- 

 formed by those well qualified to form an opinion that pi'obably three-fourths 

 of the pork and lard used by non- producers is imported from abroad. Now 

 we believe that Maine possesses all the requisite facilities, (except, and the 



