No. 105.] 71 



tivation unless they are required for grazing. The butter and cheese 

 dairies of the State are at present receiving fair encouragement. It 

 is not probable that their prosperity will be soon or serioush^ affec- 

 ted. Should they receive from any cause, either foreign or domestic, 

 a further stimulus, its tendency will be to bring more of the wilder- 

 ness of New-York into successful cultivation — a result most heartily 

 to be desired. We can see no possible means by which to hasten 

 such an event, except by using the requisite means for diffusing a true 

 knowledge of those principles, whether chemical or agricultural, upon 

 which the dairyman's success depends. No doubt whatever exists 

 that the consumption of the articles of butter and cheese will be ma- 

 terially increased, if the quality can be improved. Your committee 

 are prepared to believe that the butter and cheese dairies are in a state 

 of rapid improvemet. They infer this from the fact that at the com- 

 mencement of the agricultural societies, eminent dairymen were wil- 

 ling to compete for premiums, but were not willing to comply with 

 the terms of the society, by furnishing a full and detailed statement 

 of the mode of operation, for fear of divulging the secret of their suc- 

 cess. This illiberal prejudice is fast wearing away, and the benefi- 

 cial effects resulting from the publications of the society are being 

 materially felt. 



During the last year the census has been taken, in which are embo- 

 died valuable details of the crops of this State. Your committee for- 

 bear quoting from these statistics, as the whole is in course of publica- 

 tion. But your committee are grieved to find that some of the crops 

 returned, fall much short of that yield per acre which might have 

 been reasonably expected. One of these — Wheat — has long been a 

 staple of the State, and the falling off of this crop, in a large number 

 of the older and more populous counties of the State, is a serious 

 public calamity ; not only because it diminishes the profits of the 

 farmer, but because it drains these counties of a large amount of spe- 

 cie to furnish those bread stuffs, which are indispensable for their sub- 

 sistence and comfort. 



This calamity is owing in a great measure to the ravages of the 

 wheat fly ; an evil which does not seem to abate, and for which there 

 seems to be no certain cure. The evil cannot be eradicated. The 

 committee believe that in the papers of the society will be found a 

 detail of a method of culture which will measurably alleviate, if not 

 entirely avoid the ravages of the weavil. 



