No. 63.J 173 



ing done. Our own country can furnish from the many choice herds 

 which are scattered over it, animals equal, probably, to any we can 

 ever expect to procure from importations; certainly there are many 

 that would prove of immense advantage to us. 



We need more system in all our operations connected with our 

 farms; we are realizing the effects of system and order in the man- 

 agement of many of our farms; and when it shall become universal, 

 and when prejudice shall have been overcome, agricultural science 

 more generally diffused, the empire county will at least sustain in her 

 agricultural relations that commanding elevation which is now award- 

 ed to it for her wealth and resources. 



With a firm reliance upon Him, without whose blessin^g- all our ef- 

 forts will be in vain, I cherish the fond expectation that ere long we 

 shall be permitted to witness an improved system of agricultural edu- 

 cation, as well as such an improvement in agriculture generally as 

 will gladden the heart of every patriot and every lover of the best in- 

 terests of his country. 



AGRICULTURE OF ONEIDA COUNTY. 



BY CALVIN WASHBURN, STOKES. 



The present condition of agriculture in this county is promi- 

 sins;, having undergone considerable change for the belter, within 

 the last few years. This change may oe mainly attributed to the cir- 

 culation of agricultural periodicals, and the improved method of cul- 

 tivation brought about by them, and the influence of certain individuals 

 in different sections of the county who have given us occular demon- 

 stration of the benefit of a judicious rotation of crops and economy 

 in collecting and applying manures. Oneida county has considera- 

 ble level land lying east and west through the county from Utica 

 east, to Oneida Lake west, and is admirably calculated for the pro- 

 duction of grain as well as for grazing. The north and south is more 

 uneven, especially the towns of Boonville, Lee, Western, Steuben, 

 and part of some other towns in the north; and they are occupied 

 mostly for dairying, except Lee and Western. 



There is as great a variety of soils in this as in any county in the 

 State. There is the rich, fertile, alluvial soil along the streams; the 

 dry gravelly; the wet cold upland or hill country, with a rich mucky 

 surface, but a subsoil near the same; some very stony and some san- 

 dy pitch pine plains. The products are as various as the soil. Those 

 mostly produced for market, are beef, pork, butter, cheese and wool. 

 The other products, such as oats, corn, rye, barley, hay, potatoes and 

 other roots, are consumed mostly in our own county. Our marketing 

 is done at the villages along the Erie canal. The modes of cultivation 

 are somewhat various, but new and improved ones are getting more 

 and more in fashion; and I think the old skinning system will soon 



