No. 63. J 217 



noble few, they have no favorite breeds of cattle, sheep, &c. unless 

 we shame them by applying that appellation to the miserable breeds 

 they keep. From this sweeping clause, sheep must be excepted, as 

 most of the lots are Merino and Saxony, and those of excellent qua- 

 lity. A comparatively small number of farmers have a mixture or 

 cross of the native stock and short horned Durham, or Devonshire 

 cattle, which answer a good purpose, and are probably the best for 

 the county; and also a few crosses of the Berkshire and Byfieldhogs, 

 which are also good; but save these, our stock is miserable. Our 

 cattle as small as sheep^ and our swine capable of digging Xowaterin 

 the driest season. But great improvements are just in embryo in this 

 department, and the praise of it must be awarded to the even yet fee- 

 ble Agricultural Society of our county, and which bids fair to be of 

 the highest importance. 



3d. What agricultural changes are requisite to advance the pros- 

 perity of the county. — These are many, and but few will be sug- 

 gested. 1st. Draining and improving low and swamp land. 2d. In 

 agricultural implements, and in the change of human labor to that of 

 brute and inanimate labor. 3d. In orcharding and fruits. 4th. In 

 the rotation of crops. 5th. In applying science to agriculture. To 

 discourse on these and many other changes which would be profita- 

 ble, would furnish quite a treatise; sufficient for the present is the 

 notice. 



AGRICULTURE OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 



BY TYLER FOUKTAIN, PEEKSKILL. 



The surface of Westchester county is uneven and hilly, but not 

 mountainous except in the northwest corner, which is the commence- 

 ment of the " Highlands." There is a group of hills on the east 

 side of the county, in the towns of Lewisboro' and Poundridge, and 

 another on the west, in the towns of Cortlandt and Yorktown. They 

 are made up of rocky bluffs, steep hills and precipices, but the val- 

 leys are well timbered, and are valuable on that account. There are 

 other groups of rocky hills in the interior of the county, but they are 

 not extensive. There are no extensive flats in the county. The ara- 

 ble land is made up of ridges, knolls and valleys, and on many of the 

 ridges are pleasant flats and sloping fields, which make fine farms and 

 sites for buildings. On the surface, and intermixed with the soil, are 

 fragments of rocks and stones more or less rounded by attrition, and 

 of these the fences are mostly made. There are ledges of rocks 

 that " crop out" at intervals in all parts of the county. The soil is 

 various, but the greater part is a gravelly loam. 



Good farms in this county, are worth from eighty to one hundred 



[Senate, No. 63.J C* 



