gQ BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



that if it should not benefit any other, it may not to say the 

 least, injure me in the consideration of waste land in my own 

 premises. 



I shall first refer to a class of land which in my opinion 

 was not intended by our wise Creator for tilling purposes, 

 although this may be made up Vvitli here and there a fertile 

 spot, interspersed among very much larger areas, that man 

 cannot subdue to profit, or bring into a good condition for 

 common agricultural purposes without doing a vast deal of 

 labor, which in my opinion is lost labor. For example : 

 tracts of land, or rather of stone and soil, where ledges appear 

 above the surface to that extent that it is a hard matter to 

 find even one square rod in any one piece, for acres, that is 

 naturally prepared for tillage, and these little spots being 

 filled with stones from the size of peas up to prodigious 

 boulders. It is no wonder that the boys leave the old man 

 and old farm, and seek more pleasant and remunerative 

 employment. It would be more encouragement if once clear- 

 ing ofi" the stones it would be done forever, but it is not so ; 

 every time such lots are plowed the stone has to be removed 

 before we can do anything with a harrow, and then in har- 

 rowing we bring out another and entirely new crop of (as 

 the boys sometimes say) younger stones, and they must be 

 removed, too, before we can properly seed the land to grass, 

 and then, even, we must go all over the ground the next 

 spring and pick, and either pile up or haul away again. 

 What a deal of hard labor has to be done in the cultivation 

 of such lands, saying nothing of the wear and tear of imple- 

 ments. How much more the same amount of labor would 

 realize upon the more naturally arable lands which are abun- 

 dant and unoccupied in this State. We have quite a large 

 percentage, in many towns, of a class of soil very different in 

 nature from that to which I have referred, which I consider 

 very unprofitable for general farming, viz : sandy plains land. 

 I have often thought that I would like to have an acre or so 

 of such soil for gardening purposes, as it is naturally w^arm 

 and dry, thereby rendering it capable of being worked early 



