28 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



but this, it seems to me, is a seconclar}^ matter. It is of little use 

 to purchase superior cows, if they are to be turned into a barren 

 pasture to find their support. It is true that the cow manufactures 

 the milk, but equall}' true that not an ounce is drawn from the 

 udder that has not first entered the mouth in the shape of food. I 

 claim that no man is justified in purchasing an animal or in allowing 

 his animals to propagate the species on his hands, without first mak- 

 ing himself reasonably sure that he can furnish those animals with a 

 full sup[)ly of wholesome, nourishing food, suited to their wants. 



80, in the time allotted me in this discussion, I will speak of 

 methods of increasing the food supply on dairy fainns. 



I might urge the importance of improving pasture lands, and 

 would advise this course, wherever practicable, but I see many 

 obstacles in the wa}' for any marked or rajjid improvement in this 

 direction. Your pastures are large and the fences poor ; their sur- 

 face is covered, in man}' cases, by slumps and ti-ees, which must be 

 removed before the land can be greatl}' improved b}' cultivation, and 

 a large portion can never be profitably worked, till it is brought 

 under a thorough sj'stem of drainage. These obstacles, if removed, 

 ■will incur an expense that would rarely be met b}" an}' return that 

 lands can possibly yield under a system of pasturage. At the best, 

 the pasturing season is short, requiring the feeding of mowing lands 

 in the fall, much to their damage, while in the flush of feed in mid- 

 summer, there is great waste from the tramping and defilement 

 caused by the animals pastured . 



I would not, however, ignore all the advantages and conveniences 

 of a good pasture, but would endeavor by aU economic means to 

 keep the pastures worth}^ the name. 



Whoever looks abroad over the farms of New England, cannot 

 but see that her agriculture is more or less in a trausitor}' state. 

 The old agriculture was a system of cropping, the new agriculture 

 will be a system of cultivation. The era of virgin soil and spon- 

 taneous productions has already passed awa}' in mv state, and is 

 rapidly passing away in 3'ours, except perhaps, in those valleys on 

 your northern border, which the western emigrant has unwisely 

 passed by. The old fields require cultivation and the application of 

 plant food to replace in part, that which successive cropping has 

 removed. 



Were I to purchase a farm in Maine, I am sure that I should 

 transplant certain methods which I now follow on my dairy farm at 



